Fuck What They Want – Do You Instead

There I was, just a kid, sitting in a parent/teacher conference. My mom was talking with my math teacher about my performance in class.

“Ian has a B in math right now,” my teacher said.

They continued talking about my overall academic trajectory and potential for achievement. Everything was sounding standard until my teacher said the following:

“Ian will be average at best.”

I remember the effect those words had on me. It felt like a sucker punch. Like I had my bell rung and my ears were ringing.

I’ll be honest – I was never great at math. I’m still not. But I knew what I WAS great at: writing and telling stories. Syntax and prose instead of sine waves and the Pythagorean theorem.

I never got an “A” in math, but I did graduate as the number one English student out of 300 kids in my high school class. I’ve had my writing published in a variety of mediums. Storytelling has been the foundation of my life’s success to date.

My point is, sometimes people – critics – will project their visions of the world onto you. In doing so, they will say and do whatever it takes to ensure you conform and fit into a little box they’ve labeled “life.” They don’t want to be wrong in their assumptions about you. Like a movie, they want the plot to unfold exactly as they’ve written it.

Well, fuck what they want.

Be who YOU want to be instead. Do the things that light your fire. Focus on what makes you special – the skills and talents that make the world smile and say, “Ah, yes. This is who we’ve been waiting for.” Find people who will mentor or partner with you, whose advice is there to build you up, and will give you tough love when you need it because they want you to succeed, not because they are opposed to your potential.

It’s your life – not theirs. I say choose to be awesome.

To quote the great Seth Godin,

“You’re more powerful than you think you are. Act accordingly.”

Love you all very much, you sexy, powerful beasts.

Ian

Photo Credit: Eve Egdmann, @artemisseeks on Instagram