Underestimating Human Nature and Overestimating Oneself

Underestimating human nature and overestimating oneself. Quitting a job to fully focus on self - media isn't a good fit for most people, just like starting a business isn't suitable for the majority.

Starting a business demands a high level of risk - resistance ability, stress tolerance, ambition, execution power, and mental strength.

I didn't understand these things before. Later, when I started a side hustle and got to know some entrepreneurs, I really admire those who've succeeded in business, including small business owners and self - employed individuals.

This is my honest thought, because you won't know how tough it is until you've been through it. Many people say they can just go back to their hometown and farm. But to be honest, if you really have to do it, you might not be able to do it well.

Maybe what you used to look down on, the so - called fallback option, isn't really a fallback at all. A fallback means you can do it when you step back, but many things aren't that simple.

If you say you'll go back to farm, you might not even have land, or you might not know how to farm, or you can't stand the hard work, or you can't even support yourself.

Underestimating the greed, anger, and delusion in life. The reality is that when your abilities decline, people around you will leave. If they get a chance, they'll even kick you while you're down.

The saying “When the wall falls, everyone pushes” makes you wonder: Do many people want to push in the first place, or do they do it just because the wall has fallen?

Overestimating oneself, in my opinion, is more common than underestimating human nature.

Why do I say that?

Just like most New Year's resolutions end up unfulfilled, people always overestimate their self - control and execution power, as well as their future abilities.

They always think they'll be able to achieve what they can't do now in the future. For example, they say they'll start doing something tomorrow or next week. In fact, they're just shifting all the responsibilities to their future selves, overestimating their future abilities in all aspects.

However, the opposite of overestimating oneself is not setting limits on yourself and believing in yourself.

The so - called self - fulfilling prophecy: if you don't believe you can achieve something, you're doomed to fail.

So, how do you balance, choose, and judge between not overestimating yourself and not setting limits on yourself and believing in yourself?

Actually, these two represent different directions.

Not overestimating yourself is about considering risks. For example, overestimating yourself can lead to big losses and high costs.

Say you think you can remember something without making any arrangements in advance, but then you forget and end up losing a lot of money. That's overestimating your memory.

Not setting limits on yourself is about aiming high in life. Don't put a transparent glass ceiling on your sky.

This is more about motivating yourself to move forward bravely, to be brave enough to try and break through.

Life is like a large - scale real - life experience game that can't be restarted.

Life is also a long - term self - cultivation.

So, what are your goals? Do you want to earn a certain amount of money, live a certain kind of life, or achieve a certain level of success?

Do you want to become famous, help a certain number of people, or create a certain product? Do you want to help so many people, travel to so many places, and meet so many people? Do you want to be known by so many people and find something?

If it were decades ago or for the previous generation, they probably wouldn't think about these questions because when they were struggling to survive, they didn't have the time.

In this era, there's a very contradictory phenomenon: on one hand, people seem to have enough to eat and drink, but on the other hand, they're short of money and material things, caught in this dilemma.

I think it's because we don't know what we really want.

If it weren't for others, society, or our parents telling us or demanding something from us, we wouldn't know where to go. We just follow in the footsteps of those before us.

It seems safer that way, even if it's a dead - end, because we're more afraid of having no way out right now.

Today's topic has gone a bit off - track, but overall, it's still related to human nature and life goals.

Anyway, the three cornerstones of life must be well - built: health, making money, and relationships.

Daily Reading & Writing by Xiaolu 2025.06.29【day664】