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It should come as no surprise that our society grows more and more competitive. If you work in the service industry in a big city, you would definitely know the feel. Having a job in a corporation often means that there is the possibility of a pay raise or going higher in the ranks as a whole. You know the saying “Climbing the corporate ladder” – well, it is indeed a ladder.

Interestingly enough, quite a lot of psychology goes on when people think of their success, and even more when they think about the success of others. Let me give you an example. Imagine you have some important job to do at work, which comes with bonuses and whatnot. Your employer or manager has trusted you to do it, so your own ego gets a bit of a boost. You understand that what you do is not done by just anyone, and you have value as an employee. Now imagine you have to explain that to an acquaintance of yours, let’s say on a high school reunion. What do you do then? You not only mention how good of a job you have, but you make everything sound way more difficult than it is, with you having way more responsibilities and a way better job than most. Even if you are just a copywriter, who had to write an advertisement for a big company, you’d make it sound like the best ad in the world.

It is just how our brains work most of the time – we value our success mostly through the eyes of others. This means that if people see us as successful, it is more likely that we will see ourselves as successful and act on it. Well, let me tell you – nothing says “I am successful” more than a chauffeured vehicle. You don’t even have to do it many times. Just enough for people to notice. And when they notice, they will immediately associate you with a successful person – unlike themselves.

It may be a bit sad that our brains act like that, but it is deeply engraved in us, mostly through evolution. Our survival as a species depended upon staying together in a group, even forming a society. But a group cannot function properly if everyone in it want to be a leader. So some form of leadership had to be established and in prehistoric society this would have been physical dominance. Then intelligence and manipulation grew to become more important and people started following charisma, rather than strength. Now looks have become the litmus test.

So dress up, get a chauffeured vehicle from us and make everyone bow to you – well, figuratively at least.