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In childhood, it seemed to us that when we grow up, we will get an opportunity to do what we really want. However, in reality, it turns out that everyone around us has an interest in our life — parents demand we have grandchildren, friends give advice on opening your own business, while the manufacturers of various goods want you to be wearing a leopard skirt and owning the 10th iPhone this season. And every other person is ready to tell us how we’re supposed to live because “it’s important” or “everybody does it.”

Bright Side is a little shy about discussing this but almost all of us get trapped in these psychological tricks at least once. As a result, we start to think along these patterns that were intrusively placed into our heads.

1. “A successful person should have a car, an apartment, and the latest iPhone.”

Today’s society actively promotes life for the sake of pleasure that should be gotten mainly from consuming: purchasing new gadgets, trendy perfumes, or non-stick frying pans. At the same time, they impose on us a model for our children’s behavior who want to get a new toy right here and right now (the last 2 words are actually a part of most commercial scripts). And it doesn’t matter that once you purchase the latest iPhone you’ll have to eat instant noodles for 6 months, and that an expensive car will mostly sit in a garage because its owner won’t have enough money for its service.

2. “Why should I be inferior to a celebrity?”

Today, psychologists outline this phenomenon as the imitation of other social groups’ style of living. In other words, these are attempts to imitate TV stars and businessmen who have the money to support any whim. But a girl from a rural town or suburb will probably not have enough money for a real haute couture dress, a vacation in the Maldives, or for a breast augmentation at an expensive Swiss clinic. The problem lies in the fact that she will subconsciously be considering herself as inferior to some diva from a magazine cover and will build a huge inferiority complex as she gets older.

3. “I can’t live without Instagram”

The situation is quite simple here — the more beautiful photos you have on social media, the more successful and simply better your life seems. At least that’s what people who didn’t take a vacation abroad this summer or don’t have enough money for an expensive restaurant will think. Psychologists have another opinion on that: they believe that people who love to show off their life have developing narcissistic features, while the visitors to their accounts may start suffering from envy and even sink into a depression.

4. “I’m trying my best to be a good mom.”

If you are not tired, you are not a good mother. That’s the life motto many women adapt after having a baby. Especially if they love to look through glamour magazines where tons of recommendations on how to raise children are outlined. However, these perfect mothers often end up not having any time for themselves. Psychologists and teachers are already feeling alarmed by this, outlining that due to parents today being so overprotective, kids of this generation are not going to be able to make decisions independently or concentrate on their studies.

5. “It’s shameful to be a cook or a seamstress.”

Over the years, our society has formed the idea that a person without a higher education belongs to a “lower caste” while obtaining a diploma automatically makes them a perfect specialist for whom the doors of all prestigious companies are open. As a result, we almost completely lost respect for simple work. There are hardly any pupils today who can openly declare that they want to become a seamstress or an electrician. Additionally, if you were born into a family doctors, then you shouldn’t even let the thought of becoming a barber into your head.

6. “Bring me my first million.”

Many of us are not ready to slowly climb the career ladder and gain the reputation of a seasoned specialist. It’s much easier to attend one of the popular trainings where people will talk about how bad it is to work for someone and will advise you to escape your office work to finally get the freedom you deserve. Because of the desire for quick success imposed by society, people are never going to become professionals in their business. They shift from one job to another hoping that somewhere they will finally get honored and make enormous money without much experience.

7. “2 hours in front of the mirror and your natural makeup is ready...”

Modern women have turned out to be between 2 fires. From one side, it’s natural beauty that is trendy right now and that requires very few cosmetics. On the other hand, it’s said that being beautiful means being aware of the latest trends and being able to apply makeup at the level of a professional makeup artist. That’s why more and more women have been rejecting the tyranny of makeup lately, not feeling shy about their natural beauty, and saving their precious time by not spending hours in front of the mirror.

8. “Where did you go this year?”

How embarrassing is it to say that you didn’t go anywhere. Or that you’ve spent your vacation in Italy for the 5th time in a row. Or that you booked all-inclusive package at a Turkish hotel again and rolled from the beach to the buffet for 2 weeks. All this happens due to an unexpectedly raised trend in traveling and an unspoken competition about who has visited more countries. A vacation in India, a weekend in France, a business trip in the Maldives — all this is to get the maximum amount of likes and to post beautiful photos on Instagram.

9. “The main thing is your comfort. Other people’s problems don’t relate to you.”

Imagine that you slipped on an icy road, fell right in the middle of a busy street, and injured your arm. Now try to guess how the bystanders will react. In the best case scenario, they will just pass you by, in the worst — they will be secretly (or not) taking video of you. And the person who decides to help you will get side glances from people wondering why they got into it and whether they are ready to waste their precious time on this person. It might seem that there is nothing more simple and more natural than giving a helping hand to a person who needs it, but the times of responsive people are over and have been overtaken by the trend of people being indifferent to their surroundings.

Are you ready to go against the opinion of the majority? Please share with us your thoughts about it in the comments!

Illustrated by Natalia Breeva for BrightSide.me