Why Can’t You Be The Person I Want You To Be?

“Wait a second. You’re how old? And you don’t know X?”

“Wait a minute. You’re from where? And you’ve never heard of Y?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. You’ve studied Y and you don’t know Z?”

It’s easy to feel shocked, or disappointed, or resentful, or self-righteously astonished when people don’t exhibit the qualities we believe they should’ve already mastered by now.

It’s easy, but it’s also unproductive.

Plainly put, you can’t go from point A to point B until you get over the fact that point A is where you are. And you can’t inspire others to make changes if you insist on condemning them for the mere fact that changes are needed.

Some people don’t know as much as you think they ought to know. Get over it.

Some people have never heard of things you’ve always known about. Get over it.

Some people ought to know certain things and they still don’t know them. Get over it.

You can hang around complaining about how far behind everyone is or you can get busy encouraging them to make the most of where they actually are.

When you give up your right to look at others as losers, that’s when you can help transform them into winners.

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T.K. Coleman is the co-founder and education director for Praxis, a 12-month apprenticeship program that combines a traditional liberal arts education with practical skills training, one-on-one coaching, academic mentoring, group discussions, professional development workshops, and real-world business experience. T.K. is an avid lover of ideas and blogs regularly on personal development, education, and philosophy.