It is the most expensive subscription service you never signed up for.
Without wanting to make it sound like breaking news( while it just might be)- your brain is a slumlord. Here’s the thing nobody mentions in those feel-good Instagram posts – your brain is essentially a slumlord running the shadiest rental operation in town. It charges you premium rates for studio-apartment confidence while promising penthouse self-worth that somehow never gets delivered.
And that lease agreement? Written in invisible ink when you were five and someone laughed at your drawing of a horse that looked suspiciously like a deformed table.
Every morning, you wake up and your brain slides a bill under your mental door: “Rent due for feeling worthy of existing. Late fees apply for sleeping in. Additional charges for wearing that shirt that makes you look like you’re cosplaying as a depressed accountant.”
Translation: Your brain is that landlord who raises rent annually but never fixes the broken self-confidence tap.
This psychological rent racket is happening worldwide, but the rates are absolutely bonkers depending on your zip code. Americans pay premium for deluxe confidence packages that come with motivational speeches and vision boards. They’re essentially living in the Beverly Hills of self-esteem – everything’s overpriced, everyone’s fake-happy, and there’s a life coach on every corner. The Japanese have turned self-worth into a group discount plan. Individual confidence? That’s western nonsense. Their self-esteem comes with a family pack and community support system. And us Indians? We’re paying for self-esteem in a rent-controlled nightmare where the rates are determined by your last exam score, your mother’s friend’s son’s achievements, and whether you’ve gained weight since Diwali.
From Wall Street to Dharavi, the psychological rent is non-negotiable:
USA:Kanye West (before the meltdowns) built an empire on the audacity of unshakable self-belief. Now? Overdue payments. Japan:Hikikomori—half a million people who let society evict their self-worth. Don’t be them. India: The Sharma ji ka beta syndicate—where comparison steals your confidence before you even get a chance to spend it.
Self-esteem isn’t some ancestral bungalow you inherit—it’s a high-stakes rental in a cutthroat city. Stop paying? Congrats, you’re now squatting in your own damn mind, dodging eviction notices from self-doubt. This isn’t motivational fluff. This is survival.
Fact is the moment your self-esteem account runs dry, life downgrades you to economy class in your own damn story.
Social media has basically turned self-esteem into Venezuela’s economy – hyper inflated, constantly crashing, and somehow everyone else seems to have access to foreign currency while you’re bartering with buttons.
Every Instagram story is like receiving an eviction notice from your own confidence. “Your self-worth has been downgraded because Karen from college is apparently running marathons while making artisanal soap and raising bilingual children who paint watercolor masterpieces in their spare time.”
LinkedIn is even worse. It’s like a luxury apartment complex where everyone’s posting about their “humble journey” while subtly flexing about their corner office and company car. “Thrilled to announce my promotion to CEO! #blessed #humbled #stilldrivingmyFerraritowork“.
Social media turned self-esteem into cryptocurrency – everybody’s talking about it, nobody understands it, and most of us are broke.
Indian families invented dynamic pricing for self-esteem before surge pricing was even a thing. Your worth fluctuates based on factors including but not restricted to- Current market rate of engineering admissions; Your weight compared to your wedding photos; How much money your cousin is making in America; Whether you remembered to call your grandmother this week.
We’re the only culture where self-esteem comes with a live customer service team (your relatives) who are available 24/7( beats the hell out of the customer service helpline that most utilities and banks have) to inform you about rate changes, performance reviews, and comparison charts with other tenants in the family building.
Another lens you might want to wear( I strongly encourage you to do that) is earning compound interest by not caring a damn. Confidence compounds like interest, but so does not giving a damn. The people who seem to have cracked the code aren’t paying more rent; they’ve just realized the whole system is a bit of a pyramid scheme. Take Ratan Tata buying Jaguar Land Rover after Ford humiliated him. That’s not just business revenge; that’s psychological compound interest with a side of “I’ll show you who’s economically viable now, mother truckers.” Or Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw getting rejected by breweries for being a woman and responding by building a billion-dollar biotech empire in her garage. Sometimes the best response to society’s appraisal of your worth is to become your own damn appraiser.
Time to beard the lion in its own den. Aka– dive head deep into the negotiation you have been avoiding. Time for some real talk, shall we. That voice in your head charging you psychological rent? It’s not an impartial landlord. It’s more like that friend who borrows money and then acts like they’re doing YOU a favor by eventually paying it back. Your inner critic is basically running a protection racket inside your own head. “Nice confidence you got there… would be a shame if something happened to it. Pay up or we’ll remind you about that time you tripped in front of your crush in 8th grade.”
Your inner critic is like a mafia boss who’s forgotten they work for you, not the other way around.
Low self-esteem is the ultimate poverty. With it? You walk into a room like it’s your goddamn throne.Without it? You apologize for existing before anyone even notices you. Cases in point: Elon Musk got laughed out of Russia while buying rockets. Paid his confidence dues, now he owns space. Kangana Ranaut didn’t beg for Bollywood’s approval—she sent the industry an invoice for her talent. That underpaid genius in your office? Still waiting for a “permission slip” from the universe to demand more.
Moral of the story? The world doesn’t grant respect. You confiscate it.
Comparison is the thief of joy. Validation addiction? Emotional nicotine.
Perfectionism? The serial killer of bold moves. Your vibe attracts your tribe—only when your self-esteem isn’t in ICU. Say ‘No’ like it’s a full sentence. Because it is. You are not too much. They’re just too little. So stop making yourself small for people who can’t handle your full screen mode.
Look, my apologies- I’m not here to give you a group hug. I’m here to slap some swagger into your spine. With your permission, of course. Self-esteem ain’t your Instagram bio or your fancy LinkedIn headline.
It’s your soul’s credit score. And most people? Running on overdraft.
Take Muhammad Ali. He didn’t wait for likes or retweets. He declared himself the greatest. Way before the world caught up. Advance booking on confidence, ladies and gentlemen. Oprah Winfrey? They said she wasn’t TV material. Well, she flipped that script so hard, now she owns the damn teleprompter. In India, we’ve got Bhuvan Bam—started as a singing waiter.
Now? He’s got more subscribers than most folks have brain cells.
Why? Because he didn’t lease his self-worth to trolls. Or Falguni Nayar.
Middle-aged. No VC bro backing. She built Nykaa and painted a billion-dollar lipstick across India’s startup scene.
This is not about being famous. It’s about being fearless. You want self-esteem? Get up. Show up. Speak up. Say “no” to what insults your vibe, your value, your vision.
Remember- You are expensive. Start charging rent in self-respect. Confidence is quiet. And insecurity has the loudest podcast.