If you notice that you are instinctively drawn to actions based on the potential for increased status, note this down in a journal. Take time to consider whether the goal or motivation is truly aligned to your values, or if you are being coerced by a desire for prestige.
Explore unconventional paths.
Focus on learning new skills. Rather
Reserve time to read memoirs and biographies of those who have achieved their dreams not by striving for wealth or status, but by reflecting on what is important to them and following their own path.
Note: The Minimalists and Ryan Holiday!
Practice metacognition to reflect on long-term goals.
Note: Metacognition. Awareness and understanding of one’s own thought processes
Surround yourself with explorers.
the news
swept up
Far from being a modern phenomenon, we have craved status ever since we were monkeys, when it already offered advantages within hierarchical micro-societies.
For instance, those who choose to study medicine based on the future status of being a doctor could later find themselves unfulfilled in a career they are not truly interested or invested in.
Rather than striving for status, we need to find more sustainable incentives for success.
The importance we confer to prestige makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. For our ancestors, being more popular was a survival advantage. Social status offered greater group protection and longevity, which means that they were more likely to reproduce.
as modern individuals, we seek out and follow paths that will maximize our social status and capital, even if we do not realize we are doing it. Professor Cameron Anderson explained that status influences how we behave and think. For example, wearing designer clothing or driving a sports car may be part of our inbuilt desire for prestige.
Dr Sabina Siebert from the University of Glasgow found that when faced with competition from other professions, barristers protected their prestige with the use of status symbols including professional dress, ceremonies and rituals. She concluded that this allowed “elite professionals to maintain their superior status.”
Modern society has exacerbated our natural desire for high-ranking status, with social media as a giant leaderboard where we compete with each other to gain the most prestige points.
Eugene Wei, who has worked in media, technology and for consumer internet companies, wrote that social media is built on the idea that it offers an efficient way to accumulate social capital. The likes, retweets, or comments that are felt to increase reach and boost the perception of one’s own value. It’s a “world of artificial prestige”.
When you focus on how successful you appear to others, status anxiety can occur. Your fear of not being valued by society may sadly lead to harmful long-term decisions being made.
If you study law to claim the associated status of working as a lawyer, rather than because you are drawn to the career itself, you may later find yourself dissatisfied, stressed or unhappy at work.
Note: Sadly, we see this often happen in societies that push degrees as THE predictor of success.
In his book Status Anxiety, philosopher Alain de Botton writes that the anxiety about what others think of us and about whether we are judged a success or a failure can lead us to make decisions that are self-defeating, lower our self-worth, or are at odds with our values.
Status symbols such as a large house in a desirable area, multiple holidays each year, or being able to flash a Rolex on your wrist may all be ways that you feel you demonstrate your significance and value in society.
If you decline opportunities for personal growth or self-discovery while striving for status, you could progress fast, but not in the right direction.
The psychology of prestige has its roots in evolution. However, in the modern world, we have the ability to reflect on the motivations behind our pursuit of status.
It is important to distinguish between wanting to achieve a goal that is aligned to our values and will truly make us feel good, and a goal we want to meet purely for its associated status in our society.
If we’re aware that we’re playing the social status game, then we can reflect on whether there is an intrinsically motivated path that could provide opportunities for growth and greater overall satisfaction.