A non-disclosure agreement is a binding contract. It makes sure that one party can not disclose any information they uncover about another party – be it products, services, marketing details … what their boss wears during the end of year party (yeesh) … or whatever.
It stops people from knowing things that they don’t need to know.
Now, my ego has this violent urge to be noticed. I want recognition, respect, attention. When I’m down I feel that just maybe if I was smarter/healthier/more attractive then maybe the empty feeling inside would fade.
When this happens, I can feel part of me inside scrambling round trying to find reasons why people might like me. Is it my eyes? what I was wearing? Or that funny thing I said the other day?
But I have recently learned a secret. At least, it was a secret from me.
Nobody knows why other people like them, and that’s fine.
It’s like there’s this NDA we all signed at birth. We all agreed that we can keep what we like to ourselves, including what we like about people.
And this is actually 100% okay! Think about it – if you knew what everyone liked about you, how would that change you? Would you try and build on your strengths for more attention? Or strengthen the bits that were unnoticed?
No. You would tie yourself up in knots trying to understand and accommodate every point of view – and in the end there’s only one point of view that matters. It’s yours.
So please, don’t waste your time trying to breach the NDA. Focus on what you have – on what you like. People may come to appreciate you more – but in the end, it’s your own appreciation that matters. Because your access to that is 100% legal.