It's healthy to acknowledge and accept our faults, though it's easy to take it too far into the depths of self-doubt. For me, it's believing that kindness is feigned and that I don't deserve to be happy. It's a struggle, and I know it harms my ability for form healthy relationships.
pakupaku9 asked self-aware Redditors: What's an absolute turn off about your own personality that you're aware of but can't help?
Submissions have been edited for clarity, context, and profanity.
Thinking you annoy everyone.
I'm worried way too often that I'm annoying or bothering people and end up apologizing for it, which then ACTUALLY makes me annoying. It's a vicious cycle.
My friends will ask me if I want to hang out and 9 out of 10 times I ask "Do YOU want to hang out? We don't have to if you don't want to." F*** I'm annoying.
I relate to this too much for my liking.
Having a really expressive face.
My face gives away exactly what I'm thinking.
I feel you. If I don't like someone / something the other person and the people around me WILL notice.
Never. Play. Poker! I feel you. If I don't like someone / something the other person and the people around me WILL notice.
Never. Play. Poker!
Being that person who yells when they're excited.
When I get excited about something, I get loud as f***.
I don't mean to yell or am even aware that my volume went up that much.
My dad does that, and we've gotten in the really obnoxious habit of shushing him or telling him to bring it down. My husband called me out on it one time when I absent mindedly did it to him and I realized how rude it is.
I totally understand people not wanting me to shout, but when people shush me (like family who do it out of habit), I feel so bad. I usually just stop talking about the thing I was talking about, for fear of getting loud again.
Habitual one-uppers.
I interrupt people at the tail end of their stories and bring up my similar experiences in a way that can come off as one upping when really I don't have anything to add and just don't want to say nothing. But I've gotten much better with that. I still do have a tendency to interrupt and notice I'm doing it every time which leads to lots of awkward apologies at the end of a conversation.
I use to do this a lot, most of the time I'm just so excited that I've had a similar experience that I can't wait to tell the person. As I've gotten older I've realized most experience aren't terribly unique and started to vet the stories I want to tell better and almost always wait until the person is finished.
On the off chance I did cut someone off, instead of waiting for a lull or starting to apologize I try to finish my story with a follow up question to the person initially telling the story.
The trick is to not care how people feel about you.
I want people to like me. And think of 100 reasons why they don't when I don't feel a connection. I basically can't just chill without thinking the worst.
I think of every negative possibility, everything I did wrong in an interaction , and I dwell on it till I depress the hell out of myself. Due to this I need constant reassurance of things to the point I'm sure I drive people I care about nuts.
I never take kindness as genuine and always assume I'm being used, and then have to weigh how much am I worth to myself versus how much I'm willing to be used.
I know I've gone off track, but I feel it all tied together a bit.
Sounds like a mastery of facetiousness .
Im pretty sarcastic, but I'm a pretty monotone person so people tend to think I'm being serious at times where I'm really not.
It's sucks because I find my sense of humor hilarious and usually make jokes because I find them funny. But they come off to other people as me being clueless when I'm just being sarcastic.
Me too. Everything is a joke, but no one knows! I just recently found out. Explains a lot!
Turning into mom.
I turn into my mother and smother people. I realize I'm doing it, but I can't seem to stop myself.
For example: "Oh, you're going out? Don't forget your coat."
"You should get to bed soon if need to be up early."
"Did you get something to eat? You should grab a bite."
A friend once looked me in the eye and said, "Hey, I'm an adult. I'm quite able to make all my own decisions, and pay the consequence for those decisions." Ouch. That one stung a bit. But it all comes from a good place.
Oh I have a friend like that! I love her at lot but the smothering does get annoying sometimes. That one time I tried to fill a plastic bottle on a public fountain. And I fidgeted a bit before I got the bottle in the right position. She, having as little experience as I had, took the bottle out of my hand and did it herself. :D
My issue goes the other way. Anytime I see someone struggling with something, I kinda just stare and smile. It's really weird, as if I have distanced myself from reality so much that I don't realize I have the power to help out.
Being super needy.
I constantly need to be assured that the person is into me. I have abandonment issues that have made me quite insecure.
Looking for opinions, where's the line on this? Would it be unreasonable to want that sort of affirmation once a week or so? Once a month? At what point does it become ok to start worrying? Asking for a friend...
Once every few days saying you like someone seems okay. My girlfriend makes a point of telling me she likes me every few days despite our incessant sarcasm about totally hating each other.
That sounds nice. I haven't gotten a spontaneous "I love you" or even an "I enjoy your company" in a few months. Not sure exactly how long. Might be time to move on.
Not being able to accept praise.
I am sh*t at receiving compliments because i don't like myself and always feel like i could do better even though i do nothing. Can make me sound arrogant or condescending when someone compliments me and i reject it or just passively ignore it.
Just say "thank you" with a smile that you're thankful for what they said but not a big grin where your self esteem depends on their compliment
I have trouble receiving compliments and will always immediately and without thinking come up with a reason why the compliment isn't valid and my work is crap. I'm trying to just accept them graciously because I realize my usual response makes us both look bad.
Don't we all.
I feel really awkward making eye contact and talking about my feelings.
I relate way too much to this.
I have been asked so many times if I am on the autism spectrum. I am not, but I absolutely hate making eye contact while conversing with people. Just find it awkward & when I try to, it just turns into a staring contest. All these questions start popping in my head then
"How often should I blink my eyes/ should I coordinate my blinking with theirs"
"How long should I keep the eye contact"
"Should I be the one to avert my eyes or should I wait for them to look away"
& then I get anxious about the actual topic of the conversation because I am not paying all my attention to what they're saying.
Edit: I am in the medical field so most everyone who notices my social awkwardness tries to guess what's wrong with me. Bitches love diagnosing!
Just think of eye contact as being the physical punctuation in a conversation. Look them in the eye, only for about 2-3 seconds at a time, when the following is happening: you agree with them, or smile in response to something they say, or you ask a question, or they are making their main point. Then let your gaze drop. If your body language still says 'I'm listening ' (an occasional nod, head tilt) it's okay not to be staring them in the eye - that's normal, and more comfortable for them also. Always make and hold eye contact at the end of your conversation when you close. 'It's been nice talking to you, hopefully I'll see you around'. Smile. Move away. Conversation successfully completed without anyone going away feeling weirded out.
My father instilled eye contact into me and my sibling to the point where we would make eye contact with people passing by us. Over the years I've learned to keep eye contact but to sometimes look over their shoulders behind them. It's not perfect as sometimes they think there something behind them but besides that it works pretty well and it helps form q more intimate bond between me and said person. And not a kind of intimate as in relation but rather it assures them that I'm listening to them. So yeah, eye contact is important
But we should also be prepared and ready to ask the right questions to have a leg up on the competition.
"What is THE best question to ask on a job interview?"
A company's history or information about a past employee were suggested subjects appropriate for questioning.
Prior Knowledge
"When you were interviewing here, what would you have liked to know before you joined?"
"This worked for me. I asked my interviewer a question about how she had personally dealt with a company policy she had just explained. She bragged about her stellar adherence to the policy. I nodded my approval. I got the job."
A Previous Employee
"One that has always gone over well for me:"
"What were some qualities that the previous employee in this role brought to the job that you would like to see carried forward?"
"Another good thing to do is research the company you are interviewing with and you can ask things about what they may be involved in or you could drop that while reading about the company, you wondered this."
Hypothetical questions were suggested as helpful examples of inquiry.
Indicators Of How Companies Treat Employees
"A question that landed me a job once was: 'If I asked your direct reports about your management style, what do you think they'd tell me?' Stumped a hiring manager and he emailed me personally to tell me about it, no one ever asked him that question but got the job.
"In my current interviews I'm asking 'what did your company do for its employees during [the virus] to improve their day to day, work life balance, etc.' and I ask 'Is there anything your company adopted during [the virus] that they plan to keep post [the virus]?"
"These questions give a lot of insight into whether a company treated their employees well."
Past Performance & Adjustments
"If we were currently sitting in my 1 year review, what would I have done in this year for you to say I excelled in my role?"
"If I could snap my finger right now and change anything about your job or the company, what would it be and why?"
The following questions about a prospective company may not be answered from initial digging on their website.
Measure Of Success & Career Trajectories
"How is success measured in this role?"
"What are some possible career trajectories within the company that could stem from this position?"
Being A Solution
"Ask them what is the biggest problem you can solve for them in your first six months with the company. Similar to 'don't think of a purple hippo,' this forces them to imagine you succeeding in the position."
Simply The Best
"Who is your best employee and why is he/she the best?"
"You will then face 2 situations mostly:"
"panicking CEO who can't answer you 'Bob who works 17 hours a day for a slice of bread' so the fear in their faces must be a big nono for you"
"entusiast CEO who actually follow their business and can tell you who is an added value for the company and why."
– ThePiz91
My experiences with job interviews are different than others seeking work in office environments.
Having had a years-long career as a dancer, my "interview" was the dance audition, where hopefuls dance in small groups of people at a time after learning a routine and then awaiting their fate after the panel evaluates their performances.
The question I may or may not have asked in such a scenario earlier in my career was: "Did I make the cut?"
I did not make the cut. And I learned never to ask that again.
I remember the worst date I ever had. My biggest regret is that I stayed for the entire thing. I should've left as soon as I realized this was not going well, which was basically at hello. But he was paying so I drank, a lot. I'll keep names and dates to myself to protect the innocent.
0/10
Big Brother Reaction GIF by Big Brother After DarkGiphy"Went to brewery, date said I had hairy arms and that meant I was horny, said "you look really awful in this light" and then tried to dig out of that hole by saying in his native language that was a term of endearment long term couples said to each other. 0/10 did not date again."
Lucky 13?
"My wife wanted to plan our 13th wedding anniversary. I was excited because usually, I plan it. She bought us some new disc golf discs and after a quick supper, we went to play. We hadn't played in forever. We were laughing and I had a great time. She served me with divorce papers and told me that the date was a test to see if she still had feelings for me. I also learned that she was having an affair that started well before our anniversary."
- rmorlock
Two Hours from Home
"Not necessarily a date but a person I was dating invited me to his parent's house for the afternoon. He wanted to introduce me to them and show me the house he grew up in. I thought it was super sweet and had no problems going. He was also in the middle of moving and needed to pick up a few things, so it really didn't seem that unusual."
"Yeah, we got there and it was awful. His entire family was there. They traveled from hours away too. This was not just meeting the parents, it was meeting the ENTIRE family. Even worse? At some point, this idiot told his parents that he had proposed. We had been dating TWO months. I spent the entire afternoon dumbfounded and just playing along."
"We were two hours from home and I had no cell service, no way to leave at all. We ended up spending the afternoon brainstorming wedding ideas and planning an Alaskan honeymoon that his parents planned to gift us. His brother even called to say congratulations! We drove back to his apartment in silence. When we got there, I got in my car and left, didn't even bother grabbing my stuff. Weirdest experience ever. I have no idea how he broke it to his parents that we weren't getting married."
You're Cut Off!
"Got set up on a blind date once between mutual friends. She shows up to the restaurant already a little tipsy, orders multiple appetizers and only takes like one or two bites from each one. Then she proceeds to order 3 or 4 more drinks and is visibly drunk at this point. She gets up and says she's going to the bathroom and staggers off. About 15-20 minutes go by so I try to call her several times but no answer."
"Finally I decide to pay the check and just leave. About 2 hours later I'm sitting at home and I get a call from an unknown number. It's the police department. She was picked up on a DUI on her way home after she ditched me and gave the cops my number to see if I could go bail her out!"
- mox44ah
Sorry?
Bbc Three Idk GIF by BBCGiphy"Well, I gave this answer on a different topic, but it ties in with this. We were out on a date, we had been seeing each other for a while, close to a year maybe. She gets a phone call. Suddenly she looks destroyed. Her fiancé had just died in a motorcycle accident."
What in the world? I mean how can we ever expect to pair off with the dating pool being inundated with liars and nut jobs? I'm going to delete my apps.
Girl, Bye.
Sassy Beyonce GIFGiphy"Had a girl openly flirt with the bartender in front of me. She says she wasn't. But handing him her own phone and asking for his contact info in front of her date seems like it to me."
Crazy!
"Came out from a movie, late at night, and date's Camaro was stolen. Apparently, he called his WIFE (that I did not know he had) and let her know where he was and what happened. She showed up and realized he was on a date! She started chasing ME around the parking lot telling me she was going to kill me. Saved by the cops who showed up just in time to take the auto theft report."
Hey Mom
"Met a girl at a country bar one night in my 20s. We were both pretty drunk but hit it off pretty good. Ended up getting her number and we agreed we'd go on a real date. Fast forward to the date, she gets in my vehicle and... she looks almost identical to my mom. I was mortified. I was polite and we went for lunch where I found out she also had a boyfriend she "wasn't sure if she was into". Never talked to her again."
- SgtGo
Liars...
"When I was in college many years ago, before the advancement of cell phones and social media, I was chatting with a girl I met on a BBS who lived on Long Island, NY. I was 18 at the time, but lied and said I was 22 because she said she was 25. We spent a few weeks emailing each other, as well as calling each other."
"We even exchanged pics. When we finally met up, things blew up. Turns out we both lied about our ages: She was really 33, and lied because she thought she looked younger. She admitted she sent a college photo to me. We still had dinner together, but it was awkward as hell. We never spoke again."
Doubles
Kill Me Now Season 1 GIF by FriendsGiphy"It was a double date. She was more interested talking to the other girl throughout the whole thing. Found out later from the other guy that his girl cheated on him with my date."
Ummm... I think I'm just going to stay single. That is a handful of crazy. Why can't people just be honest? I swear the search for love warps people's brains. Be careful out there people.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.