Mindy Kaling Is Confident, Okay?

Really! Photo: NBC/Getty Images

Mindy Kaling has a new collection of essays coming out this fall, squeakily titled Why Not Me? In one particular essay, excerpted by Glamour, Kaling provides an instructional guide for young women on how to build confidence. Confidence, Kaling claims, is mostly the same as entitlement.

The essay begins with an anecdote about a time that Kaling spoke on a panel and was asked by a teen girl where she got her confidence. Because she had allegedly responded poorly due to being very tired, she gave a B.S. answer at the time. To right her past wrong, she has written the unnamed girl an entire guide to becoming confident:


But if you feel entitled, you must back up this entitlement with hard work, Kaling claims. She goes on to say that the new screen villain is the “workaholic,” but that kids should know their parents are working hard for a reason … or something:


The essay closes out with this nugget of summary: “Work hard, know your shit, show your shit, and then feel entitled.” 

Sounds exhausting. Just do you.

Mindy Kaling Is Confident, Okay?