Knowing Who You Are
One of my passions is helping young people find their way. Growing up is hard, whether you come from a rich or poor background. You are in the process of discovering the world, figuring out who you are, and learning how life works. There is no manual or textbook that shows you how to take steps 1, 2, and 3 and, ta-da, you’ve figured it all out. For most of us, there is a lot of trial and error, with two steps back and three steps forward kind of progress. Here is George Carlin talking about figuring out who he is.
George talks about mainstream dreams and mainstream people. For the record, there is nothing wrong with being “mainstream.” We need mainstream people who are going to put on the suit and tie, go out there, and be jolly and likable. Some examples that come to mind: Warren Buffett, Roger Federer, Oprah, Dolly Parton, Jamie Dimon, and Keanu Reeves. These are textbook examples of how we should be and what we should strive for. We need textbook examples growing up. It is important to have them, but not everyone is going to be like that. Some of us are going to be “the heel.” Some of us are going to be like outlaws and aren’t going to care about whatever the f*ck it is society wants us to be. Some examples? Steve Jobs, George Carlin, Elon Musk, Novak Djokovic, Michael Jordan, and Howard Stern, just to name a few. These people, while extremely talented, are not going to have the likability factor that some of the others I named in the beginning have. People might like them for their talent, but when it comes to liking the individual, there are more likable figures. A great comparison here is Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Roger is the fan favorite. He is the one everyone wants to be like. He is the one everyone can’t seem to find a negative word about. Novak, on the other hand, is the opposite of that. He came in and disrupted the party Nadal and Federer were having in the early 2010s. He has had his moments of anger and has even been ejected from a tournament. Even though, in my opinion, he is better at tennis than Roger, people—the fans—just don’t seem to have as much love for him as they do Rafa and Roger.
So the question is: Who are you? Maybe you don’t know yet. Maybe you’re still figuring that out, and that’s okay. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. But one of these days, it will click, and you’ll see who you really are after you’ve done some self-introspection.
Who knows? One day, maybe you’ll realize you are “the heel,” like me. That’s okay, though. There are many successful people like that. It’s not a character flaw; that’s just who you are. Embrace it and build on your strengths. I was always told when playing tennis and growing up that it is better to build upon a strength than to try to improve a weakness. That is not to say you shouldn’t try to improve a weakness. It is to say that your ROI, or return on investment, will be higher if you really focus on developing your strengths. Figure out who you are. You are on no one’s time but your own.
When I pictured 'the heel' or antagonist, I thought of Heisenberg from Breaking Bad. It's just for comic relief—I have no plans to sell blue meth in Albuquerque, haha. But if I did it would be tight tight tight lol (another reference from the show). On a serious note, do some self introspection and find out who you are.
