I think we believe that we should have our life together “by now.” But in reality, there are 50 year olds, 60 year olds, 70 year olds, and even older adults who still don’t have their life together. In America, we lean toward the capitalistic society in that we want to be at this specific milestone or own this by a certain date. I’m extremely guilty of this and therefore wanted to address my own life experience and research to provide some help. Often the stress and pressure we place on ourselves puts us in a frozen state. You’ve probably heard the terms decision fatigue or analysis paralysis. I find these to be on point in that if you’re racing to get to where you want to go you’re either going to be sloppy and end up in the wrong place or overthink to avoid making the wrong decision and instead remain stagnant. So how does one remedy this? The simple basic answer which you’ve probably heard a million times is to slow down and be grateful for what you do have, relieving some of the pressure because most likely you’re in a better spot than you give yourself credit for. This is true, and you should come from a mindset of abundance and positive thinking, but the actual helpful answer is to fail forward. I am very much a dreamer but sometimes lacking the doing part. So, the people who may actually be less prepared or not as smart as others are the ones actually succeeding simply because of effort. Assuming one is able to reflect on their actions and teach themselves new skills then one’s accomplishments are limitless. All you have to do is ACT! Take action and do the best you can. Oh you failed, fix it and do better. Failed again, ok take note of the mistakes and try again. By taking action pursuing one’s goals you will discover a path to success. Now I’m not saying it will be easy nor am I saying you’ll find that path after a certain period of time. There’s no set timeline of success but every millionaire, entrepreneur, CEO, doctor, lawyer, etc you wish to emulate or you look up to all failed and learned along the way. The main point I’m trying to make is that the secret ingredient is in the work. All of the work and grinding behind the scenes is what makes someone truly great. Yes, Michael Jordan is the GOAT but do you think he was just gifted with natural talent. What about Tom Brady? Clearly, by Tom’s physique coming out of college and into the NFL you can tell he was sculpted by the gods and chosen to be the one (sarcasm for non-football people). I mean it simply came down to both desiring to be the best and doing the things that others wouldn’t, never settling. They chose to wake up every day and perfect their craft regardless of how they felt. Now that takes a lot of dedication… But in
Next Article: Is College “Worth It”?
today’s society people want easy, including me. If you want to become rich, invent something that makes it easier on humans. Examples are planes, cars, cell phones, facetime, WhatsApp, uber, uber eats, steamer, air fryer, etc. I probably missed some obvious examples but you get the gist. The caveat to knowing this is we can predict where civilization is trending, towards automation and essentially less working and more laziness. Now I’m not necessarily saying this as a negative or trying to bring doom and gloom but rather to highlight that people DON’T want to put in the work. We are at the laziest as a society (no offense me included), which means it’s the easiest it’s ever been to outwork the crowd. I wanted to write this article to put my thoughts on paper and hopefully provide valuable insights. But also, to motivate others and find common struggles. I’m not writing this telling you to become the next David Goggins but rather shining light on the fact that you can accomplish whatever you wish to. I’m not saying it will be easy but rather you’d be surprised how quickly you can level up by simply taking action and failing forward. The one hurdle is the embarrassment of failure. Personally, I used to be so concerned with looking or sounding dumb. I still am to an extent but here’s what I’ve learned. Number 1 people don’t give a shit about you. Think about if you witnessed something embarrassing happening to someone today? If you did do you care that it was embarrassing? No, because it didn’t effect you! Will you remember it a week from now? Most likely not. But I hear you I hear you, having to see your friends or family or community members after doing something embarrassing or failing is torture. 20 years from now do you think you will be happy, care, or even remember that you avoided doing something so you wouldn’t be embarrassed. NO! But do you think 20 years from now you would regret not chasing your dreams and jumping at the opportunity to be successful simply to avoid being embarrassed? YES! Humans are selfish and self-centered and guess what that’s natural, it is our one life after all. So be selfish because in 20 years, you will be the only person that has to look yourself in the mirror and say this is the life I’ve built for myself. Let the doubters doubt and the haters hate because guess what it’s you vs. you! Not where you want to be? Not happy with your life? Well then make a plan and start today. You won’t be perfect and you’ll make mistakes but you’ll learn a hell of a lot faster by trying and failing then waiting until the stars align. I hope you enjoyed reading this article and I plan to continue to publish articles every Saturday starting August 3rd. Also, while I’m discovering what topics I’ll cover I’d like to stay in the realm of college, sports, mental health, and success.
