211 – Inferiority as a Super Power
Most people avoid feelings of inferiority at all costs. But what if embracing it could make you unstoppable?
In 1960, a kid in rural Japan with no TV, no toys, and no money discovered a hole in the ground near a bamboo forest and spent his entire childhood exploring it. That kid was Shigeru Miyamoto, the future creator of Mario Brothers, Donkey Kong, and The Legend of Zelda. Decades later, when asked where the feeling of Zelda came from, Miyamoto pointed to that cave and his sense of being very small and vulnerable in a vast unknown. Today we use his story to argue that the most productive thing you can feel is inferior. Not defeated. Not small. Inferior, but still moving forward.
From there we dig into the theories of Alfred Adler, the psychologist who first identified the inferiority complex and argued that it's the engine behind almost all of human achievement. We also connect inferiority to stoicism, and why Silicon Valley CEOs who claim to be stoics are often just chasing superiority, which is the wrong destination entirely. And we talk about how taking smaller bites, feeling inferior in limited doses, and striving toward superiority rather than reaching it, are all legitimate methods for turning an icky feeling into a tactical advantage.
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rrzw2_MmfS0