May 26, 2017

Why That Person Gets Under Your Skin

Happy Friday! 

You know how some people just bug the hell out of you? You know they’re not a bad person, but they irk you nonetheless? 

I have one of these people in my life. She’s a colleague and I know her heart is in the right place. She is highly strategic about promoting her business via social media and she posts questions like “what’s your favorite thing about me?” and encourages her audience to post the same question. She has three hashtags she created that she uses constantly.

She drives me CRAZY. 

This week I attended a talk about women in the workplace and one of the topics covered was the tendency of women not to brag about their accomplishments, oftentimes to the detriment of their career advancement. 

This woman who bugs me often discusses the same topic. In fact, I know the reason she posts on Facebook blatantly asking for compliments is that she is forcing herself to confront this tendency within herself and to empower other women to do the same. 

The more I thought about this woman, the more I realized the fact I could never put myself out there like that is the reason I’m so bugged by her. 

Her style is not my style, but so what? 

I don’t want to be her and I don’t feel moved to ask questions like hers, but I see a piece of myself in her. A part of myself I am not comfortable confronting. And that’s why she bugs me so much. 

Frankly, I’m just being a hater. 

I know that haters only hate when they are triggered by something they fear they can’t have, or something they fear they truly are. In this case, it might be a bit of both. 

If you look a little closer at that person who bugs you, my guess is you will find the same. Once you recognize that for what it is, it makes dealing with that person a lot easier. And they might just teach you something about yourself in the process. 

xo

Francesca