You Were Never Untaught Not to Boast
The problem stems from how we are brought up. You see, we are all taught at a young age — appropriately — not to brag. After all, who wants to play with the kid whose daddy makes more money than your own?
But as we get older, we are never UN-taught; we never UN-learn that personal promotion along the way is an important component of personal success. To be clear, Gillis is not promoting outright boasting. That will never do the trick. But what he is saying is that when we start reaching upper elementary, middle school and high school, we need to be learning how to communicate our value; how to inform others of how good we are — again, appropriately. Into college and on into the career world, appropriate personal promotion becomes mandatory. Or, as the wise man said to Gillis: You stall.