It blows my mind how many people measure themselves, and therefore their lives, by job titles, income, social status, perceived intelligence, or a dozen other meaningless metrics.
Life isn’t about optimization.
It’s about awe.
The moments that matter are the ones that make you feel something. The sunrise you didn’t plan for. The trip you almost didn’t take. The night that ran too long. The conversation that stuck with you.
Yes, most of life is made up of chores. The minutes, hours, days, weeks, and months that blur together so you can maintain a decent life. And if you do those things (pay your bills, show up, take care of yourself) you’ll probably be fine.
But fine is not the goal.
Based on everything we know, we get one shot at this. Maybe we get more. Maybe we don’t. And because we don’t know, the only rational response is to take life by the balls and live the hell out of it. Do unreasonable things. Seek awe.
No one will remember your 95th percentile SAT score.
No one cares about your straight As or your community service hours.
Your school matters only if it’s Stanford or something equivalent. Otherwise, don’t spend $80K+ a year chasing a brand name. Pick a school that fits your interests. Stay the full four years. Don’t rush it. If anything, take a victory lap. I wish I had.
Any hiring manager worth working for will value life experience over perfectly checked boxes.
Too many people these days have never caused a little mischief. Never snuck out. Never skipped class. Never got caught. Never crossed a line and learned where it actually was. That kind of friction used to be part of growing up. I don’t know why it’s disappearing, but I don’t think it’s a good sign.
So live your life. Fly your freak flag and don’t hurt others.
Go do some shit no one expects. Chase awe. You won’t remember a random workday or a week of pay, but you will remember that sunrise, that place, that moment where you felt fully alive.
Your life is not a résumé.
Stop treating it like one.
You don’t need to check society’s boxes to live a great life. In fact, in a lot of cases, checking them leads to a shittier one.
So get out there and do something unreasonable.
- Mack
Disagree with me in the comments.