The German word for nerd is ‘streber’, which literally translates to striver.
Strivers are poked fun at, more so during our teens and our early twenties, as being nerds, geeks, wannabe and other such pejoratives. Success is always welcome, but somehow, the hard work that goes into achieving this success needs to be hidden from view.
This leads to successful people hiding the effort that went into making them successful, making it seem as if success came naturally to them. On the other hand, the people who fall short are led to believe that ‘they don’t have what it takes’.
Our hypocrisy lies in the celebration of success, but the derision of the effort that goes into it. Wouldn’t it be healthier to do the opposite?
Observations 