How to know you're not the crazy one in a world full of crazy people

A lesson in how not to live the stupidest life ever

Nothing is more disorienting than waking up one morning to find nearly everyone you know has gone from exchanging sourdough recipes to calling for the destruction of Western society. You’re pretty sure you’re not crazy, despite everyone saying that you’re the villain.

But would Darth Vader watch The Great British Bake Off on a Friday night cuddled up on the couch with their partner drinking hot cocoa and texting their mom funny memes about Wallace & Gromit? I think his weekend plans might look a little different.

I’m of the opinion that logic is an underrated skill and one should control their emotions rather than let them take you on a wild goose chase. It just doesn’t sound like a good idea to trust feelings calling out to you from the depths of your childhood nightmares without fully understanding what that was about.

For example, if I get angry when someone cut me in line, I would need to figure out the source of that anger. Is it coming from my need to enforce social norms to satisfy my intolerance of ambiguity, thereby feeling out of control and entering into a state of survival mode? Or do I think it’s uncool to place self-interest above the needs of others in a public place? I should probably figure out which one it is before I do something I might regret.

A little bit of emotional intelligence goes a long way.

So with my newfound EQ, I decided to figure out how perfectly decent people can go from being, you know, normal, to full-on evil in the blink of an eye. And how we can all definitely learn from their spectacularly bad choices through this simple thought experiment. Because, clearly, they’ve nailed how not to be a functioning human being.

😈 How To Ruin Your Mental Health: A Checklist

1. Let an insecurity fester by running from it.

2. Fill your need for comfort by embracing leisure, pleasure, and treasure. (It rhymes when you say it in a British accent!)

3. Develop a fixed-mindset such as, “I am a fundamentally good person.”

4. Avoid discomfort at all cost by seeing adversity as an injustice.

5. Set your worldview to extrinsic values cast inward. Make everything about you and your feelings.

6. Internalize all the injustice that you see in your newfound worldview. Some people might call this “woke.”

7. Surround yourself with people who validate all the anger and powerlessness you feel, make a mountain out of a molehill and then harness this energy toward people you don’t like. Even better if you’re doing this with your therapist.

8. Align yourself with people who hate the same people. After all, the enemy of your enemy is your friend and misery loves company.

9. Shut down conversation with people who disagree with you because those people are wrong and fundamentally bad people.

10. Widen your enemy list to include all the people who trigger you.

11. Dehumanize your enemies to whatever injustice they seem to represent. Side yourself with the opposition and self-proclaim “being on the right side of history.”

12. Surround yourself with people who only think like you. Cut out everyone else.

13. Live out the rest of your days as an angry, bitter, and nihilistic person, leaving behind a trail of destruction. Have no hope for a better future.

14. Resort to violence as the only way to claim the power, wealth and status that is rightfully yours or for those you align with.

And then, everything just turns into a means to an end because when you’re stuck in that mindset, your values are reduced to the seven deadly sins. You might think you’re chasing something bigger, but in the end, it’s just a hamster wheel of self-interest telling yourself you’re evolving.

All is not lost.

🫶 Here’s How To Fix It:

1. Dive deep to find your insecurity. Unpack it. This might take awhile. It helps to deny yourself of the leisure, pleasure and treasure in your life for a little while. In fact, go to a place with zero distractions that won’t validate you.

2. Develop a growth-mindset, such as, “I do not understand most things, but I am working on my patience to tolerate uncertainty.” And then actually work on it.

3. Train yourself to do hard things. Embrace discomfort as a character-builder. Compare yourself to yesterday and no one else.

4. Reset your worldview to intrinsic values cast outward. Think of yourself less and lead with curiosity about the world.

5. Seek a greater understanding about the virtues of justice, humility, truth, etc. through reading philosophy, spirituality and great works of literature.

6. Surround yourself with people who make you think bigger than yourself and challenge your perceptions.

7. Align yourself with like-minded and down-to-earth people.

8. Always be curious, never judgmental.

9. Widen your list of curious ideas you want to learn more about. Go down that rabbit hole.

10. Teach yourself to love thy neighbor. Even the ones who annoy you.

11. Surround yourself with open-minded and diverse people who teach you something.

12. Live out the rest of your days with meaning, purpose and contentment with what you have.

13. Enjoy the fruits of your labor:

    1. Truth – Pursuing objective reality that survives the passage of time.

    2. Humility – Recognizing one’s limitations and valuing others equally.

    3. Compassion – Showing empathy and concern for others' suffering.

    4. Courage – Facing fear and adversity with resolve.

    5. Justice – Learning to forgive and forget.

    6. Wisdom – Applying knowledge thoughtfully for the greater good.

    7. Integrity – Maintaining consistency in ethical principles.

    8. Gratitude – Appreciating life’s blessings.

    9. Generosity – Be a source of renewal for others.

    10. Love – Cultivating unconditional care for oneself and others.

Now go ahead, put on your cape and be the hero of your own life story.

It’s never too late.