Why You Shouldn’t Do What You Hate
Two kinds of hate exist: The immature “I don’t like to do this”-hate and the “This disturbs my conscience”-hate. While the former is often a result of arrogance, laziness, or despair, the latter is a warning from your conscience that you’re actions aren’t aligned with your values. Here’s why you should heed this warning.
You Betray Yourself
The things you hate are often the things you believe to be wrong. By doing these things you betray yourself. Your self-betrayal might give you short-term advantages but your conscience will ensure that you’ll suffer long-term.
Your Self-Respect Suffers
Doing things you hate lowers your self-respect. It supplies you with endless ammunition to hate yourself for real, wrong acts. You’ll hate yourself for doing them, despise and berate yourself and tyrannize yourself.
You Weaken Yourself
Most importantly, doing what you hate weakens you. You’ll start a war with your conscience, be less likely to stop doing what you hate, and in that weaken your character, resolve and resilience. When the time comes where they are tested and you need to refuse compliance, act contrary to public expectations, or stand up against evil, it’s almost certain that you won’t have the strength of character and the integrity to do so.
Conclusion
If you do what you hate you betray yourself, undermine your self-respect and weaken yourself. When the time comes that you have to rely on your character, integrity, and strengths they will likely fail you. In consequence, you’ll fail yourself and others when they most need you.[1]
"Beyond Order" by Jordan Peterson inspired this post. ↩︎