I find myself in one of two mindsets when I think about accomplishing anything.
There is the “I can do anything!” mindset. I’m in this one ~30% of the time.
Then there is “My possibilities are closing off” mindset. That’s the remaining ~70% of my time.
I spend so much time in the second mindset for two reasons:
- Emotionally, it can sometimes be easier to be down on yourself.
- Logically, the possibilities are actually closing off.
In Dave Grohl’s autobiography, he talks about pursuing being a “punk rocker” from the age of 13.
Nearly 40 years later, he is still doing the same thing (but now he’s the front man of the Foo Fighters).
Same thing with Tiger Woods, but to an even crazier degree.
He was putting golf balls across stage on live television at the age of 2.
Both examples here are fairly unrealistic. I literally picked two of the most successful people to ever exist in their chosen fields.
That aside though, the possibilities are ACTUALLY closing off.
Slowly but surely, every single day.
Want to become a doctor? Well unless you wanted to when you entered college, it’s going to be fairly hard. And expensive. And time-intensive.
How about a judge? Good luck. You need a law degree and at least 5 years of experience working in Law. If you started now, it would take you at least 9 years (you have to apply to Law school first).
So yes, logically both of those things are closed off to you. As well as going to the Olympics, becoming a movie star, or starting a famous YouTube channel.
But that’s an awful mindset to have.
Because with that mindset, you don’t think about all the things that can make you unique.
My favorite story when it comes to unique potential, is the story of Mike Dubin: Founder of Dollar Shave Club.
He graduated with a BA in History in 2001. Over the next decade he worked in a various marketing and writing positions at companies like NBC, Time, and Sports Illustrated.
During that time, he also took improv night classes.
Then, in 2011, he met a friend’s father who asked him if he could help sell 250,000 razor blades sitting in a warehouse.
The result was this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUG9qYTJMsI
It was his unique set of experiences that allowed him to capitalize on an opportunity of a lifetime.
Now you might be thinking “I don’t want to be an entrepreneur and sell razors”.
This is just one example of many out there.
The point is that each of us has unique experiences.
So no, you probably won’t be able to become a Grandmaster at Chess. Or the next Billie Eilish. Or even the CEO of a company that sells razors.
What you can become, is something that’s completely unique to you.
So that’s why instead of thinking that “My possibilities are closing off”.
I remind myself that yes, the possibilities of what I can do in life are getting narrower. Every single day.
But new ones are continuing to open up, and if I continue to experiment and learn, one day I can do something completely unique to me.
So can you.
I find myself in one of two mindsets when I think about accomplishing anything.
There is the “I can do anything!” mindset. I’m in this one ~30% of the time.
Then there is “My possibilities are closing off” mindset. That’s the remaining ~70% of my time.
I spend so much time in the second mindset for two reasons:
- Emotionally, it can sometimes be easier to be down on yourself.
- Logically, the possibilities are actually closing off.
In Dave Grohl’s autobiography, he talks about pursuing being a “punk rocker” from the age of 13.
Nearly 40 years later, he is still doing the same thing (but now he’s the front man of the Foo Fighters).
Same thing with Tiger Woods, but to an even crazier degree.
He was putting golf balls across stage on live television at the age of 2.
Both examples here are fairly unrealistic. I literally picked two of the most successful people to ever exist in their chosen fields.
That aside though, the possibilities are ACTUALLY closing off.
Slowly but surely, every single day.
Want to become a doctor? Well unless you wanted to when you entered college, it’s going to be fairly hard. And expensive. And time-intensive.
How about a judge? Good luck. You need a law degree and at least 5 years of experience working in Law. If you started now, it would take you at least 9 years (you have to apply to Law school first).
So yes, logically both of those things are closed off to you. As well as going to the Olympics, becoming a movie star, or starting a famous YouTube channel.
But that’s an awful mindset to have.
Because with that mindset, you don’t think about all the things that can make you unique.
My favorite story when it comes to unique potential, is the story of Mike Dubin: Founder of Dollar Shave Club.
He graduated with a BA in History in 2001. Over the next decade he worked in a various marketing and writing positions at companies like NBC, Time, and Sports Illustrated.
During that time, he also took improv night classes.
Then, in 2011, he met a friend’s father who asked him if he could help sell 250,000 razor blades sitting in a warehouse.
The result was this famous video.
It was Mike’s unique set of experiences that allowed him to capitalize on an opportunity of a lifetime.
Now you might be thinking “I don’t want to be an entrepreneur and sell razors”.
This is just one example of many out there.
The point is that each of us has unique experiences.
So no, you probably won’t be able to become a Grandmaster at Chess. Or the next Billie Eilish. Or even the CEO of a company that sells razors.
What you can become, is something that’s completely unique to you.
So that’s why instead of thinking that “My possibilities are closing off”.
I remind myself that yes, the possibilities of what I can do in life are getting narrower. Every single day.
But new ones are continuing to open up, and if I continue to experiment and learn, one day I can do something completely unique to me.
So can you.