Why do we inevitably support the underdogs in a sporting event, those that are perceived as really having no chance at all of getting the prize but somehow made it to the finals?
Because we can see ourselves.
The big stars of the game are far removed from our reality and we can’t compete at their level, but bring in the underdog, and we instantly see something there that could be us, the weekend warrior, Joe Public, the lucky few to be in the spot competing where they are now. And because we see ourselves it makes it real and achievable to us with our “if they can do it, so can I” attitude.
It doesn’t stop there though; there are more instances we look for ourselves subconsciously.
Take the true story about a CEO whose company had some pretty tough staffing issues. He took himself and the majority of his team through a behavioral profiling process and found that each one of the team was an identical profile type to his own, he had employed 20 people that were all like him! Can you imagine how their business was running internally, the frustrations involved with no mix of behavioral styles? Have you ever said during an interview “You remind me a little of myself when I was younger”? I know I have, and because we see ourselves we go ahead and employ.
Take a group photograph with you included in it. Who do you look for first? You. Try it if you don’t believe me, its really hard not to seek yourself out first.
James Blunt sang “You’re Beautiful” which sent many women swooning. He made you feel like he was singing directly to you, and you only, you wanted to be the person he was singing to and so you saw yourself. Am I right?
Dale Carnegie encourages us to talk about the other persons interests, to get them talking about themselves rather than us talking about ourselves. If we spent 10 minutes talking to a stranger having answered only questions about ourselves, we think the person we have been talking to is interesting, even though we know nothing about them simply because they encouraged us to talk about ourselves.
We are not being selfish when we do this, but somewhere in our subconscious, it registers. There is something inside us, the way we are wired maybe, that makes us think about ourselves but not selfishly so. Call it an interest, call it human nature, call it hog wash, I don’t know I can’t explain it, but its there.
via Where Do You See Yourself? | LinkedIn.
Where Do You See Yourself?
