Here’s a secret we don’t want you guys to know:
Ivy League graduates are damn insecure 😅
I knew many of them while I was studying at Columbia (I count myself as one of them too).
And I know that I’m not alone in thinking this.
A partner at a major consulting firm once admitted: We love hiring Ivy League graduates - yes they’re smart but they’re also insecure, which means they’re willing to constantly work hard to prove themselves.
Of course, that doesn't mean that all Ivy League graduates are insecure or that it’s even a bad thing, but I think it’s important to have context.
For one, ‘insecurity’ (or imposter syndrome) is often what drives people to overcompensate by working really hard.
“I’m scared that people find out that I’m not that good. So I’m going to exceed expectations so that no one questions why I’m even in this room.”
As students, that insecurity fueled our drive to get perfect grades and enter an elite school.
These elite schools would then market themselves as attracting the ‘very best talents’ when the truth is, many of them just excelled at following instructions and ‘hacking’ the educational system to get the best grades.
Yes, we pushed ourselves to the limit.
But we were also following a clear, well-trodden path that others had laid down for us.
It’s the socially acceptable thing to do.
And even when we realise that we don’t enjoy following the conventional path, we find it hard to leave because the ‘cost’ of failure is now higher.
In fact, the fear of potential failure is so great, it becomes paralysing because those self-doubts from years ago never left.
So we stick to that same conventional path.
Tell ourselves that we can stick around for one more year to ‘see how it goes.
Before Year 3 passes.
Then year 5…
And before we know it, we’ve stayed for so long that the ‘cost’ of giving it all up is too great to consider.
So we give up on those dreams.
And never make the Big Jump.
So what’s the takeaway from all this?
↳ Don’t buy into the Ivy League hype.
If working at that Big Name firm is your Big Dream, go for it.
You’ll never know if you don’t try.
At the end of the day, we’re all humans with a ton of self-doubt.
The big difference is whether you’ll do something in spite of those self-doubts (Ivy League or not)!
P/S: If the above resonates and you’d like to figure out how to break out of your career paralysis, contact me PARALYSIS to get started! I’m a former BlackRock VP turned startup operator and career coach who now helps people from elite institutions carve out their unconventional dream career.
I’d love to help you too.
P/P/S: As an added bonus, I have a free webinar that helps you identify and pivot into a career that you love in 90 days. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/gjzfSnB8
