All The Things You Will Not Be

It is legion the number of things you will not be. The greatest football player in the world is not a concert hall pianist. The greatest physicist in the world is not a painter with their pieces hanging in the Louvre. The greatest violinist is not also working as a director of chemical engineering in a pharmaceutical company.

That is not to say they cannot be these things; perhaps they could have been. That is what makes us amazing as human beings.

You can be a star athlete.

You can be a world-renowned musician.

You can be the funniest comedian of the century.

You can be the most influential writer of the next hundred years.

You can be a scientist.

You can be an archaeologist.

You may be only one of these things at the highest level.

It is amazing the number of things you will not be.

But the world will not see your multitudes...

People spend a great deal of time trying to be too many things at once. They try to hold desperately to the promise of who they might be, and in doing so they become nobody special. Our world rewards excellence in a narrow space, and for that you must embrace the meaning of growing up. You must leave behind who you will not be to become who you are going to be.

It means not saying, “I could have been,” and embracing, “I am.” It means not being afraid to fail at it a lot of times before you become that thing. It means walking in a chosen direction for a long time, toward that goal, because hard work alone doesn’t get you where you want to be. You can work very hard on the wrong things.

Everyone says they want “Fuck you, money,” but they forget that the path to “Fuck you, money” often comes at the cost of walking away from “Fuck you, freedom” and “Fuck you, family.” Sure, some people may be able to pull off two of those, but I have never heard of anyone who could pulled off all three. Doing two is monumental, because these are things which are pinnacles after years of effort.

The statement has been made that you can be anyone you want if you are willing to work at it with all you have for ten years. I don’t think it is true, but I think it is close to true. But first you have to know who you want to be, and you must divest yourself of the things which are not moving you there. You must pick your goals and leave behind all the things you will not be, not because you cannot be them, but because you chose something else.

People talk about New Year’s resolutions, and I have spoken before that I think they are complete bunk. They get you nowhere. Instead, this year, look at who you want to be, and ask who you are willing to not be to get there.