BRAGGING : PART 1 - IS IT GOOD OR BAD?

Have you come across a friend, relative or colleague who brags non-stop?. Seriously, why do some people brag? I did a small research on this to understand the psyche of such people and found a nice article by Morty Leftkoe, that answered my question. Morty Leftkoe says it took him 50 years to realize he was bragging and he needed to stop. Later he helped many people habituated to bragging, deal with their self esteem issues to overcome ‘bragging’ about themselves.

Quote from the article

'For most of my life, I didn’t see my bragging as a problem. I did it and most of the people were aware of it. I realized that bragging is actually a way to compensate for a low level of self-esteem. Once we have a negative sense of ourselves, we need to find something that makes us feel good about ourselves to compensate. They are survival strategy behaviour, because we feel we need them to survive. Having people think well of me, makes me feel worthy and important.’ – Morty Leftkoe

‘Is every comment about one’s accomplishments “bragging”? Not necessarily. Here’s how to tell the difference between someone bragging and merely stating facts: Are the “facts” repeated frequently; does there seem to be a need on the person’s part that you really get the importance of what they are telling you; does the speaker have a lot of energy on “the facts”? If so, you probably are hearing bragging coming from people who need you to think well of them to feel good about themselves. If the accomplishments are presented as information, something the speaker is proud of but not “invested in,” without looking for or needing a positive reaction from you, it probably isn’t bragging.

Bragging isn’t bad and it isn’t wrong. It’s not the bragging you want to get rid of, it’s the beliefs that have you brag, to get the approval of others to feel okay about yourself. And you can stop the bragging anytime you want by eliminating the negative self-esteem beliefs and the survival strategy beliefs that cause it... ‘– Morty Leftkoe

‘Unquote’

To read the full article, click Here