So you want to be impressive?

 Sometimes we do things to improve ourselves so that we can impress someone. So that we can gain something from them. It could be respect, connection, affection, etc.

But why do they get put on such a pedestal, that you have to impress them? Why can't you impress yourself? Why not put yourself on that pedestal? What do you find impressive? Can you become that? 

You will become impressive nonetheless. Whether you do it to impress someone else or yourself. But if you impress yourself, you will not chase someone else's approval. You will be self-dependent. You do things because you want to impress yourself.

Why should you be self-dependent? What is the opposite? Be dependent upon others' evaluation of you. What if this other person has unrealistic standards? What if they find you impressive but are reluctant to tell you or show you that they do. How will you even know that they find you impressive? There are also other impressive folks out there. People's attention will be divided. You are not the only person in their lives. What will you do when they're not there to tell you how impressive you are? 

Also will you not get jealous of any other folks they find impressive? How will you deal with that? You will then have to compete with these other folks for their attention. What is stopping the other folks from competing against you? They can also start thinking like this. What if everyone started competing for others' attention? Will there be anyone left to tell them how impressive they are? Now everyone is starved of attention. 

This raises another question. How will you be able to appreciate someone else if you're so concerned with whether they find you impressive? 

You will always be jealous because there will always be competition to beat. 

But what if everyone worked to impress themselves? Jealousy has no room. How can you be jealous of yourself? 

You will work in areas you find interesting. This will make you unique. It will give you personality. Then you can appreciate others' uniqueness as well. And who doesn't like people who see the good in them and appreciate it? They will want to be with you even more. Isn't that part of the reason you wanted to impress people? So that they'll want to be with you? They'll value you for your impressiveness and the person you are. Your character will be impressive. To you.

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Another thing to note is, that not everyone is equally interested in the same things. Some people might find achievements in different fields impressive. So not everyone is going to be equally impressed with the achievement. Partly because they don't even understand that it is an achievement.

Although people could still find your level of achievement impressive. The qualities you need to become impressive are themselves impressive.

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You need to write down what you find impressive. Then you have something to work toward. A mission. A purpose. Remember why you're working. You want to impress yourself. You care about what you think of yourself.

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Earn your own respect.