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The last time I was told to be realistic I ended up going to law school. I had really wanted to write, maybe earn a living by doing some copywriting. I’d had an interest in advertising since high school and when I took Marketing in college I knew it was something that I could really do and make a living from. I wanted to change my major and forget about going to law school. I was told to ‘be realistic’ — ‘what’s advertising anyway?’ ‘it’s not like you’ll ever get an ad in the Super Bowl’ ‘being a lawyer is so much more impressive.’ So I didn’t do it. I finished my degree in history (which I actually love) and then went to law school.
Today I’m being told to ‘be realistic’ again. ‘You’re not a people person.’ ‘You would be better suited for solitary pursuit…hidden away in a dark cavern where no one will ever see you.’ Okay, I added that last part but it was suggested to me that I’d be better suited to coding than writing this blog. Just because someone is an introvert doesn’t mean they have nothing to say or that their words don’t have merit. Sure my blog isn’t very big right now but everything starts somewhere.
Imagine if Walt Disney had listened to that newspaper editor who told him he had no talent. Imagine if Thomas Edison gave up on the light bulb after his first failure. Imagine if Michael Jordan had stopped playing basketball after he was cut from the team. Most of the amazing things we now enjoy are because someone decided they were not going to be realistic. They were going to imagine something that didn’t exist and create it anyway.
I’m telling you right now, DON’T BE REALISTIC! Imagine the unimaginable and just do it. Don’t end up like me with regret after regret because you did what you were told. If you want to write, write even if no one ever reads it. If you want to build something new, just start building it. If you want to start a business, start it — even if it’s small and not quite perfect. You only regret the shots you never take, so take the shot.
Let me know in the comments how you’re not being realistic — here’s to us all achieving our dreams…
