Thanks for the constructive criticism on developing prose. That’s one the reason why I started this blog. I guess that clause about success was injected because I’ve had many discussions about the meaning of success and was trying to prevent that from being the focus of this post. In hindsight, the better decision would have been to do a post exploring the meaning of success.

And since you both touched on arrogance I’ll address both comments together.

I know I walk a fine line between arrogance and confidence but I’d like to think I’m on the confident side of the line. But I’m not the only judge. My peers are important judges as well. But this blog only gives a narrow window into the confident/arrogant dividing line, since the side you end up on is determined a lot by nonverbal communication.
Your comments brought me back to the question of, what is the difference between confidence and arrogance?

I value others opinions, especially if they are well thought out.
Many of my opinions are firm but by no means unshakeable. It’s complicated. If you say something smart invariably some people are going to call you arrogant. You can’t please everybody, so where I might draw the line is, if I’m turning people away who I’d like to get to know then I probably need to slightly tweak my behavior. To me, the more I think about this difference between arrogance and confidence the more it seems that it is not so much about the initial remark, but more about how you deal with the response.

I decided to google around a little bit to see what others had written on the topic. This article is interesting and gives some good perspective on this debate – http://successfromthenest.com/content/2-factors-to-determine-if-youre-arrogant-or-confident/

Thanks for the constructive criticism on developing prose. That’s one the reason why I started this blog. I guess that clause about success was injected because I’ve had many discussions about the meaning of success and was trying to prevent that from being the focus of this post. In hindsight, the better decision would have been to do a post exploring the meaning of success.

And since you both touched on arrogance I’ll address both comments together.

I know I walk a fine line between arrogance and confidence but I’d like to think I’m on the confident side of the line. But I’m not the only judge. My peers are important judges as well. But this blog only gives a narrow window into the confident/arrogant dividing line, since the side you end up on is determined a lot by nonverbal communication.
Your comments brought me back to the question of, what is the difference between confidence and arrogance?

I value others opinions, especially if they are well thought out.
Many of my opinions are firm but by no means unshakeable. It’s complicated. If you say something smart invariably some people are going to call you arrogant. You can’t please everybody, so where I might draw the line is, if I’m turning people away who I’d like to get to know then I probably need to slightly tweak my behavior. To me, the more I think about this difference between arrogance and confidence the more it seems that it is not so much about the initial remark, but more about how you deal with the response.

I decided to google around a little bit to see what others had written on the topic. This article is interesting and gives some good perspective on this debate – http://successfromthenest.com/content/2-factors-to-determine-if-youre-arrogant-or-confident/

Thats what your said.I’m speaking objectively when I say arrogant. It doesn’t mean you are a bad person, isn’t something to feel shame about, it is something to be aware of and to work on.

“This blog is a personal exploration”

Max I thought you’d be the first to understand that assigning
value to such terms as arrogant only serves to impede understanding. I’m sorry if I’ve been too harsh, just playing a little devil’s advocate. Have a Happy & Safe New Year!

Thats what your said.I’m speaking objectively when I say arrogant. It doesn’t mean you are a bad person, isn’t something to feel shame about, it is something to be aware of and to work on.

“This blog is a personal exploration”

Max I thought you’d be the first to understand that assigning
value to such terms as arrogant only serves to impede understanding. I’m sorry if I’ve been too harsh, just playing a little devil’s advocate. Have a Happy & Safe New Year!

Another thing is you really need to cut down on unnecessary filler. The mark of a good writer is to be as succinct and straightforward as possible. Although phrases like “however you chose to interpret that concept” may seem incredibly relevant to you, they don’t really help anyone else glean additional meaning from your text. I would be more critical about shortening your prose.

Just my two cents.

Another thing is you really need to cut down on unnecessary filler. The mark of a good writer is to be as succinct and straightforward as possible. Although phrases like “however you chose to interpret that concept” may seem incredibly relevant to you, they don’t really help anyone else glean additional meaning from your text. I would be more critical about shortening your prose.

Just my two cents.