You Can be Good at Anything

The irony is that you have to suck first

Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash

At everything.

Nobody is born a prodigy, and I think more now than ever, it is essential to appreciate society the way it is — this culture of immediate gratification, expecting results yesterday, and constant wanting in the absence of hard/smart work.

It takes time to weave between interests and ideas that manifest into a new skill or reality.

The most consistent belief I’ve noticed in myself and everyone else is that we are engulfed by the thoughts of failure — by knowing that anything we start in the beginning — we will be horrible at.

So why start at all?

Because you owe it to yourself as a human being to be the best possible version you can be.

But most want success without the minute, tedious, accumulated actions to get there.

Let me tell you something:

I want the embarrassment

I want the blunders

I want the doubt

I want the fear

Because without all of these factors alone:

I wouldn’t have any accountability for building the life I want. Do you know what scares the shit out of me? Employment in the field of bedside nursing for the rest of my life — Having a slave-driver corporation choose how I make my living — Knowing I had the chance to make the necessary changes as I saw fit and didn’t do anything about it.

Let’s take a moment to appreciate those who were perceived as sucking horrendously before becoming excellent in their craft:

• Walt Disney- this man was cut from the Kansas City Star because the editor thought he lacked imagination — imagine that (lol). This man went on to fail his way to the premiere of ‘Snow White.’ He then went on to dominate the world of American Childhood.
• R.H. Macy- failed often and hard at retail ventures in his early career. At the age of 36, he launched what we now know as ‘Macy’s,’ one of the largest department store chains in America.
• Thomas Edison- his teachers, told him as a young boy that he was “too stupid to learn anything.” Well, guess what came next? He failed at the next couple of jobs he had — then went on to invent the electric lamp and the movie camera. This dude’s a prodigy.

Now, I’m done beating a dead horse here — the message is clear — to be prolific at anything is to embrace the cataclysmic amount of failure it will take to get to that white moment of clarity — the knowledge that you’re finally good at that ‘thing.’

We all suck at something we’re trying to be great at

I suck ass at writing. I know it — I don’t do it every single day when I know I should. Will I continue? Yes, I will. Whether it be 3, 5, or 20 years down the line, I will thank my past self for persevering past the failure.

You will too, reader.

What are you trying to achieve? What are you afraid of?

Please leave a comment for some inspiration.

Thank you for reading,