At 9 years old, I lived in a homeless shelter for a few weeks. I started my first business at 13 years old; now I'm 17 and have two failed businesses behind me. I finished 12th grade at 16 years old with a perfect high school diploma. I could go on. I have a lot to talk about. I’ve seen many things; perhaps more than most ever will.
Looking back, what do I think of the life I’ve lived and the person I’ve become?
I’m resting too much.
Now you may be confused; but I assure, this is not my standards or perpetual inner unrest speaking. So, what moved me to write this text?
Let me explain.
I usually introduce myself by talking about the things I had done. I got rejected fifty times in four days in person. I ran ten kilometers in thirty-nine minutes. I wrote four hundred thousand words in five hundred days. I dedicated nine hundred days in a row to my first business, and yes, I worked at school, on the beach and in the airport. I created one hundred twenty-six self-improvement videos, close to six hundred videos in total. I also skipped 9th grade because I believed in speed.
However, by talking about my past, I lean on it.
Thus, I forget to live.
I may have done a few hard things. Yet, doing something hard once doesn’t matter. Even worse, accomplishing something extraordinary without putting in the effort teaches the wrong lessons.
For example, I got a perfect high school diploma and I finished 12th grade at 16 years old. Not only did I never study, but I built my first business while everyone else was taking notes and doing their homework. So, I literally didn’t do anything and still got rewarded. For what? I went to school and didn’t even learn to study.
Unfortunately, most of my achievements are not mine. I think that’s detrimental. How am I supposed to by myself if I always stand in the shadow of what was?
I’m not rich, I don’t have a hot blonde, and I'm far from being a monumental person. Yet, still I am successful because I am free; I can do things most couldn’t do.
But perhaps, I grew too successful too early. I accomplished too much without paying the price. I got all that I could get but failed to grow beyond that.
So, what will I do?
I will stop thinking of the things I’ve done. I will stop living in a fortress of my achievements. I shall talk about that which makes me cry at night.
I shall give myself time and remember:
Naked I was born, naked I shall die.