Janteloven, or “the law of Jante” was first mentioned in a novel written by the Danish author Aksel Sandemose.

Don’t think you’re anything special or better than us

is the basic rule underlying all the ten rules in the law. The law was, not “invented” by Sandemose. Rather, he put the social norms that were common to live by in small places in Denmark and Norway (and still is) into words. The thing is, that if you come from a small place where everyone knows everyone, it is hard to develop independently, because you will always want to conform into the society that you live in. It feels “safe” to follow the rules, because people won’ talk about you behind your back.

In society in general there will always be a douche bag who thinks he knows who you are better than you do yourself. If you change in one way or another, the douche bag will say you are “pretending to be someone you’re not”. But nobody can decide who you are but yourself.

To reach ones fullest potential it's important to acknowledge your own success. This must not be mistaken with arrogance. Just because you are proud of who you are does not mean that you think you're better than others. I think that in order to achieve this, we should always keep an open mind, and feel joy and inspiration over other peoples success. We should be proud and happy of who we are and what we achieve!

I love it when people can admit to be good at something. And I like it when people can take a compliment with a smile instead of shaking it off. If I give you a compliment, and your reply is "no, that's not true. I look like a shit head today" for instance, that means that you are calling me a lier. and i'm not, because if you know me, you know I (usually) tell the truth.

So the new rule is:

You are special. Let others be special too.

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