Most of you reading this article are either in your late teens or early twenties. Everyone tells you, your parents, friends, mentors, etc., that this is the time when you have to live life, travel, do fun shit before you get old and can't do it anymore, all that jazz. I get it.
But at the same time, you can't afford to waste this potential.
If you're anything like the hundreds of thousands of recent college undergrads looking down the barrel of student debt with minimal indication of starting a career in their chosen field.
Many of you have chosen to attend grad school, in hopes of advancing your education for a higher level position in whatever field of study you decided. The difference between a nurses aid and a neurosurgeon basically. And thats cool, you gotta do you. This article isn't about my critique of the higher education system (although that article is for another time).
One thing that I've noticed about young people in my generation, is the desire to have some level of success. Self-awareness is a term thrown around enough by my peers to get that trend exists, that not everyone wants to or can be a lawyer or doctor. Everyone has their own vibe, and thats awesome.
But it seems that everyone wants to have some level of material wealth. Whether it be the millions to buy expensive things, or enough to pay off student loans. People are struggling to get to that level, but they haven't gotten there yet. And why is that?
People need to realize that you need to have some level of obsession to be successful at any given thing. The most successful people in history and in today's society wen't all in on their strengths and heightened their talents to achieve the status of recognition they are known for.
If Mark Zuckerberg decided to take a semester off to travel the world during his time at Harvard, we would not be as connected as we are.
If Bill Gates had decided to pursue a career in carpentry for a couple of years, where would we be without Microsoft?
Everyone who has ever achieved anything with a lasting & positive legacy went all in on their strengths, became obsessed, and overcame incredible odds.
As world famous entrepreneur Grant Cardone says "Be Obsessed or Be Average."
If you want to become successful, you have to be willing to go all in. Doing anything else is just a setup for mediocrity.
Thats why you, as a young person, can't afford to take a day off.
I'm not saying that you can't take time for yourself. For a healthy social life. But if you're not doing something every single day that brings you closer to your goals/ambitions/dreams; then you've wasted the day.
Thats why it bothers me when I see my peers binge watch Arrow or Gilmore Girls for an entire weekend. While shows like this are great, and I'm just as guilty of doing. You shouldn't invest all of your time and energy of the day into doing something so unproductive.
At the very least you should go workout, read a chapter of a book, listen to a podcast. Do something!
If you want to be successful, you have to be motivated. And if you want to be motivated, you have to be obsessed.
And who cares if people think you're weird, or crazy, or insane. Criticism is a sign that you're on the right path. 100% guarenteed.
What are you obsessed with? What could you do everyday for the rest of your life? Lets talk below in the comments!
Or tweet me @jekleckner!
