This is a great phrase to explain a certain type of negative psychology. If someone “takes themselves too seriously” it means they aren’t seeing the humor with what they are doing.
They aren’t laughing enough.
They can’t laugh at themselves. They can’t have fun. It’s annoying for other people to watch someone who always “takes themselves too seriously“. These people make a big deal about nothing.
Here are some examples to understand this idea better:
Imagine if someone is trying to make some funny Youtube videos as a business but the videos fail because they really aren’t funny. Part of the problem might be that the person making the videos isn’t having enough fun and they are taking themselves too seriously. They make everything seem too serious and it ruins the original purpose which was to have fun.
I could also say about a friend, “I really can’t talk to him about his business. I know he really needs some advice but he gets so sensitive when someone tries to help him because he takes himself way too seriously“.
If someone is acting this way and being over sensitive and not being able to see what if funny about themselves, you can just say to them, “It’s not a big deal, stop taking yourself so seriously”.
You could say this to a friend who is an actor or professional athlete. Maybe they feel bad for weeks because of one little mistake. This just means they are taking themselves too seriously. Of course you don’t want to treat yourself like a joke, but it’s very possible to be too extreme too.
If you can’t learn to laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at?