the stakes are lower than you think

welcome to introspection ft. harsehaj! ⭐️ i’m harsehaj, a 19 y/o always up to something in social good x tech.

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onto today’s topic: the stakes are lower than you think 🤷‍♀️ 

i promise you that a failed midterm will not be the end of the world.

your world will also continue to spin after a failed seed fundraising round.

tomorrow will come even if you bomb an interview.

you’ll still catch up with your friend and laugh over lunch even if you didn’t hit a pr in the gym.

the stakes are much lower than we think — take a deep breath. 💗 

the western world is plagued by hustle culture and we often work ourselves into frenzies of unnecessary stress. the things we worry ourselves sick about typically don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.

why do you live?

to survive? trust, you’re doing just fine in that regard. though, you probably have higher ambitions in life than survival (remember, you’re also privileged enough to have that ambition). think of those higher ambitions and now compare them to your current stressors. if everything you’re worried about went wrong in this exact moment, how bad of a position will you really be in? 🤨 

if you’re being 100% honest with yourself, chances are that position is much better than you thought it was 10 minutes ago.

i’ve found this strategy of realistically evaluating the stakes at hand to be instrumental in helping me recenter myself. fortunately, as a result, i don’t often find myself extremely stressed.

if you’re a high school senior or looking to apply into undergrad programs, this entire time period will feel very high stakes — i know this feeling very well. it’s easier for me to say than for you to internalize, but truly, your world will continue to grow and unfold right before your eyes wherever you end up.

your world molds to you. in such a world, your personal stakes can never be earth-shattering. 🔨 

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