Bottom Line — You don’t need to be as ambitious as Bill Gates to have a worthwhile life.
This is the mindset I recall when the possibilities of what could be done in the world overwhelm me.
There are days where I’m feeling like I could be more than I am. There are two ways I can handle these moments.
One is to label these low energy feelings as bad. It’s to allow perfection to creep in and shout that I must be better or I’m nothing. I don’t like this way of thinking because it demands high expectations and if you aren’t the best of the best, then a twinge of guilt sets in.
The other way is to realize you’re a human being that goes through cycles of high and low energy. Just as I am low today, I can recall times within the past month where life was great and I was optimistic.
The flow of information from the internet and through movies overwhelms us. Heroes flash before our eyes and we can’t help but compare our position to theirs on the totem pole.
Bill Gates changed the world of computer software and now I feel that I must reach that level. It’s crippling because by expecting high world-changing achievements from yourself makes you forget about significant local achievements you’re already working on.
That puts you on a downhill slope to feeling like a lazy ass.
Realize that your heros had no idea they would impact the world. I don’t think Gates as teenager woke up and said I’m going to revolutionize the world with this thing called DOS (precursor to windows). He didn’t have any conception of Microsoft Windows yet. The idea came while he was busy working on local achievements.
Now put him in your position instead. Anything less reaching than the success of IBM is a failure. There’s no way he’d begin to tinker in software just because it would seem impossible to outdo IBM. He’d be in that same situation that I find myself in during the days I feel down.
That’s why you don’t need to boil the ocean to make a cup of hot tea. The ocean is your biggest life dream. It’s the highest potential you can imagine rising to. It’s being, owning, creating the top 1% that changes the world.
The hot cup of tea in your hand represents the local achievements that you’re accomplishing right now.
Take pride in that hot cup of tea. Realize that you don’t need to jump from the cup of tea to heating the massive ocean. At least jump to a jar if you need to but not the entire gigantic ocean. Gulping more water than you can swallow will drown you.