You're in a dream world, moving towards a grand skyscraper ahead with a shining façade of recognition and success. As you enter, you notice each floor represents a different level of status.
The higher you go, the more luxurious the amenities, the better the views, and the more exclusive the access.
The top floor, you're told by an inner voice, contains the ultimate prize: power, influence, and universal admiration.
Motivated by this vision, you begin your ascent. But there's a catch you don't yet realize: this skyscraper is constantly under construction. And as you climb, new floors are constantly being added above you.
The top is always just out of reach, creating an endless pursuit that leaves you exhausted and the feeling of not getting anywhere even though you've climbed a lot already.
Now back to reality, this grand skyscraper is a basically an analogy for the status games we play in society. For the most part, they're incredibly hard to win because they're arbitrary and dynamic.
The moment you think you've figured it out or grabbed hold of that brass ring, the tides shift. Something else becomes more relevant or attention-grabbing.
Perhaps the whole game is based on trends, and being at the top for a long period requires jumping from one trend to another as quickly as possible.
In this hierarchy, you're either climbing up or descending down, always at risk of losing your footing.
Insidious Dogma
What I can't fully wrap my head around yet is how insidiously subconscious this hierarchical mindset has become and how we've somehow internalized the belief that there's only this one building on the whole block.
Recently, I found myself playing with this model, toppling the building over, removing it altogether and replacing it with a lush forest, on which the vertical hierarchy has been replaced with a horizontal baseline.
The main difference is the lack of linearity, everything isn't placed in a straight line where we have to move forwards or backwards, upwards or downwards within that line. With the lush forest, there's an interconnected yet separate aspect, trees and other habitats coexist in a diverse ecosystem.
Bringing it down to the real world, Let's reimagine societal structures and personal success in terms of this forest analogy. Instead of a rigid hierarchy, we can see a vast landscape of possibilities, each with its own unique characteristics and value.
For example, encountering people who make six or seven figures per year. In the skyscraper mindset, I'll probably view them as occupying a higher floor, a level I must strive to reach in my relentless climb to the elusive top.
Relative Standpoint
But through the lens of the forest analogy, I may well see their position differently. It's not a level above me that I must attain, but a different section of the forest – perhaps a grove on my far right or left depending on where I'm standing.
The interesting beauty of this forest model is that it allows for multiple definitions of success. A tall redwood tree isn't inherently more valuable than a flowering shrub or a fruit-bearing tree.
In a way, such a perspective can also be incredibly liberating. Because we are no longer constrained by a one-dimensional view of progress and success.
We're free to explore, to find our own niche, to grow in the direction that feels most authentic to us and yet still appreciate the achievements of others without feeling pressured to replicate their exact path, as if we all have to fit on the same box.
Of course, these are just mental models, which are like glasses we wear to see the world in a certain way. Sometimes, I do wonder what it's really like to see the world just as it is, without any glasses.
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