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Get Used To Bragging About Yourself
It may be obnoxious in your social life, but it’s essential for your work life.
I don’t know where the phrase “Don’t toot your own horn.” comes from, but it’s kind of weird. It’s supposed to be saying something about the virtues of being modest. But if you ask me, you should be able to do whatever you want with your own horn. And, it seems rather forward to be tooting someone else’s horn, after all.
I get the point of it, modesty is a good thing. Contrary to the expression though, I think there are times when it is not only OK to promote yourself, but important to do so. Especially when it is promoting yourself for career purposes. It is a fundamentally different situation than if you are at say a party, or family get-together. There, talking too much about oneself puts you in danger of being a boor.
Most of us learned social rules about modesty somewhere along the way growing up. (Most of us.) The problem is, we try to carry these rules into work situations where it can be detrimental to apply them verbatim. I’m not saying you should not be modest, even at work. But I am saying work is a different situation that calls for different rules. And here’s why.
Venue Matters
Imagine you are at a rock concert or football arena, and you want to say something. You can say it, but…