If You Think Everyone Is Against You, Read This

I recently ran into someone I used to know from university.

We were never close, but we both majored in Computer Engineering and we recognized each other.

We started catching up and within a few minutes, he led the conversation down a familiar path.

He told me he had cut off everyone from university because they all wanted to see him fail. He also mentioned distancing himself from his family and described himself as antisocial.

He said it almost with pride.

That stirred a strange mix of emotions because at one point in my life, I was exactly like that.

I behaved this way during the time I was in university.

I believed everyone was against me. That no one could understand me. I wore isolation like a badge of honor.

That mindset was pretty common among engineering students. Feeling like outcasts and “flexing” that they were misunderstood.

That thinking didn’t make me stronger. It made me smaller.

Over time, through working on myself and spending time around people who were actually building things, I learned something very simple.

Most people are not out to get you.

Most people are neutral towards you and many genuinely have good intentions.

Assuming everyone is an enemy is a broken mental model.

Something that’s served me is to always assume positive or neutral intent.

That doesn’t mean trusting blindly or being naive. It means not poisoning your own mind by default.

When you assume everyone is against you:

• You stop learning from others.

• You stop building relationships.

• You trap yourself in your own head.

If you recognize yourself in this, take it as a sign.

Because most of the time, the thing holding you back isn’t other people.

It’s you.