How to Build Status Among Your Peers
I’m not a big fan of working for status.
Because when you work for status, you work for other people’s opinions.
Status is when others have an elevated perception of you.
I believe it’s much better to work for insights.
A minority of the population works for insights.
Most work for status.
If most work for status, then it’s wise to know how to earn it.
Then we can understand why people behave the way they do.
I have a 2-step formula on how to build status:
- You need to be able to do something difficult.
- The difficult thing you’re capable of doing must spark jealousy in others.
I’ll break down these 2 steps.
But first, I must share a story about Pakistan.
The Mountain People
I was recently watching a documentary about a group of people who live right next to a mountain in Pakistan.
The mountain has a lot of resources.
But to reach those resources, you must drive up the mountain.
Driving up the mountain is not easy.
Specific skills are needed.
A few skills include:
- The ability to drive on a narrow road.
- Concentrate for 3 hours plus.
- Drive in unpredictable weather.
- Deal with pressure.
Etc.
Very few people in the community can make that drive.
But 1 person can.
The 1 person who can drive up the mountain is seen as the man.
He has high status.
Why Status is Subjective
After watching this documentary, I thought:
‘Wait a minute! A driver has status??’
In the US, it’s the exact opposite.
If Billy introduced me to his driver, Jacob…
I’d automatically think Jacob had a lower status than Billy because he’s driving Billy around.
In the US, being a driver is not high status.
I would say in most parts of Pakistan, being a driver is not high status.
But when you introduce the variables of a mountain & resources, suddenly, being a driver becomes high status.
What does this show?
This shows that status is highly subjective.
And at times, your geography will play a role in what will get you props and what won’t.
A Scenario on How to Build Status
The status formula is:
- You need to be able to do something difficult.
- The difficult thing you’re capable of doing must spark jealousy in others.
1 and 2 must successfully be satisfied in order to build status.
Imagine I go to my community in the US and say:
‘Guys, I can drive!’
They will look at me unimpressed.
They’ll say:
‘So? All of us can drive!’
In this case, driving is not considered a difficult task.
Therefore, I have not hit #1 of the status formula.
But let’s say I can drive on flat streets and up steep mountains.
Most people cannot drive up steep mountains.
They get scared.
I tell my community:
‘Sure, you guys can drive, but here’s how I’m different. I can drive on flat streets AND up steep mountains.’
I should now get props, right???
Not quite.
The community responds back:
‘Who cares? How often do you see mountains where we live?’
I am capable of doing a difficult task.
But I don’t cause jealousy in others.
I did not satisfy #2 from the status formula.
Therefore, I have not built status.
Let’s alter the scenario a bit.
Imagine there are not many mountains where I live, but there is 1.
And on top of this mountain are the sweetest mangos on the planet.
My community desires to taste the mangos.
But they are too chicken to drive up the steep mountain.
Only I can make that drive to get the mangos.
Now the community is jealous of me.
Because I am capable of doing the difficult task that allows me to obtain what they desire.
I now have status.
Ways to Build Status
There are billions of skills out there.
We only have so much time though.
If you’re someone who wants to work for status, the only question to ask yourself is:
‘What can I do to make others jealous?’
Maybe the skill you learn is pickup artistry.
You learn how to talk to women and get hot dates on demand.
You’ll make a lot of single (and married men) jealous.
Another way to build status is by doing what your geography tells you to do.
The Pakistani driver saw that most people around him were opting to be farmers.
If most people are doing it, then it’s not difficult.
He chose the difficult task of driving up a dangerous mountain.
It can’t just be difficult and that’s it.
The task must engage someone’s imagination.
When the driver drives up the mountain, his community looks at him like a warrior with endless courage.
Disclaimer on Working for Status
The reason I’m not a big fan of working for status is because you are working for other people’s opinions.
You hope they like you.
Guess what?
They may like you today and view you as a loser tomorrow.
Initially, when you learn pickup artistry, your married friends are like:
‘Wow! You are able to get so many dates. I wish I could be like you.’
A decade passes.
Now you’re in your 40s practicing pickup artistry.
The same people who admired you before now say:
‘Bro, you’re still going out to clubs trying to get laid? Start a family already!’
Suddenly, their perception of you has shifted.
This may be a similar circumstance to the Pakistani driver in a few years.
Right now, he has status.
But in the future, there will be drones that the community uses to fly up the mountain and get resources.
Suddenly, the driver lost status.
What is cool today may not be cool tomorrow.
Desires change.
That’s why I believe it’s best to work for insights.
Others’ opinions of you may change.
But what you know, you know.
And no one can take that away from you.
For more strategies on increasing your value, be sure to check out the Level Up Mentality:
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