There’s a great chance you’re far better.
Dear Authentic Introvert,
Ever been in a situation where you want to start an endeavor but decide not to because you think it’s too late?
I have been there many times.
I was 25 when I moved to Mumbai to work as an Assistant Director in the Indian Film Industry, Bollywood.
After a year of working on small time projects, I realized things were not moving as fast as I needed them to.
I also noted that there were people working there who started when they were not even 20.
I assumed I was too late to the party.
And because a person working there might take anywhere from 5 years to never on an average to start earning enough, I decided to quit.
Clearly, I was naive because this was not the last time I did that:
Didn’t move to New Zealand for study
Quit theatre
Quit writing so more times than I can remember
Quit reading every other year since 2007 (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)
Quit YouTube at least 4 times
Quit so many things that I can’t count
But today I know…
Assuming an average timeframe for succeeding and making decisions based on that alone is the stupidest thing one can do.
Here’s why:
How do you calculate an average?
If 100 people decided to start writing a newsletter, 10 of them succeeded in a year, another 10 in 5 years, there were 10 who never made it, and the rest 70 decided to quit in less than a year,
what’s the average timeframe for being a successful newsletter writer?
Here’s what Copilot says:
If we exclude the quitters and consider that those who never succeeded worked for 10 years, we can calculate the average timeframe for a person to succeed at writing a newsletter as follows:
10 people succeeded in 1 year.10 people succeeded in 5 years.10 people never succeeded, now considered as 10 years.
The 70 quitters are not included in this calculation. The average timeframe (T_{avg}) is:
Tavg​=[(10×1)+(10×5)+(10×10)]/30​
Tavg​=[10+50+100]/30​
Tavg​=160​/30
Tavg​=5.33 years (approximately)
5.33 years is a long time if you want to make it a full-time job.
No wonder the majority would quit.
But ask yourself these questions about that thing you want to do:
Do you really want to do it?
Do you love doing it so much that you can consistently work on it regardless of the outcome?
Do you consider yourself at least above average at what you’re so passionate about?
If your answer to all these is yes or better yet – hell yeah, then there is a great chance you’ll get there way before that average timeframe, my friend.
So next time you are about to choose something you’re very passionate about, don’t let the average success rate or timeframe to be a huge factor.
Just remember that we are talking about something you really want, so stop counting yourself among the average.
Go get it!
Key Takeaway:
You are never just average at the things you’re passionate about.
That’s why your chances of success are much higher than average.
From above average to greatness,
Sachin Sharma
Leave a Reply