Former Rap Mogul Dame Dash said in a recent interview with Power 105’s Breakfast Club, “If a man isn’t a boss, then he isn’t a real man.” 15 years ago advice from Dame Dash would’ve been something to take to the bank, but what he failed to even touch is that sadly, we all can’t be multi-millionaire playboys and playgirls, someone has to work the drive thru at McDonald’s and drive the city buses. This doesn’t mean that your life is without value or meaning. Most of us in life are in the middle, you may not be a bumbling idiot but you aren’t a child prodigy either and that’s ok. The main goal of a person’s life should be to do better each time, when someone becomes comfortable with where they are in life and aren’t trying to improve upon themselves that’s where the problem begins. It’s okay if you don’t know what you want to do with your life, many of us don’t. It may take many efforts of trial and error, practice and just overall patience before you’ll see any results, if any.
Chinese philosopher Confucius once said, “The expectations of life depends upon diligence…” Well, no offense to Confucius but I bet he wasn’t a financially struggling college dropout in his mid 20s living at home with his parents who were hassling him to go back to school and find real work instead of working minimum wage jobs while trying to make it as an artist thinking that I’m some tortured creative genius who’s in the 5% of talented artist who will eventually make it when really I’m probably more likely in the 95% of people who think they’re talented and going to make it but don’t. I thought at least by the time I was 25 I’d be jet setting all over the world as a renowned writer/comedian but I’m still doing open mic shows in front of a drunken crowd on a nightly basis while I work a soul crushing job during the day with dreams of being interviewed on The Tonight Show. I don’t know what the future may hold for me; they say if you stick to a dream long enough and work hard at it then you’ll be able to see it through but when people like the the Kardashians are all over the TV and on every magazine cover, I start to doubt rather talent has to do with anything.
The real expectation of a dream would be to give it a fair shot something in the range of like a 6 months-1 year trial period depending on what the dream may be. There’s a very small percentage of people who get something right their first time around, many of us will fail at something but it those of us who continue with it that go on. Set realistic goals for yourself: we all can’t make a million dollars, appear on the cover of magazines and have our own TV shows. That doesn’t mean your dreams and goals aren’t less important. Some people dream of being international pop stars while others just want to be a master of their trade/craft. Choose dreams that work within your realm of reality, you can’t start a business with no money or business sense but that doesn’t mean you can’t start a business plan, do the research and take classes. Take baby steps with your dreams and expectations, too much too soon and you’ll be disappointed in yourself. Give your dreams a chance to grow, think of them like a plant. They’re not going to pop up overnight, it takes time for it to grow and evolve. Don’t be afraid of failure, you may fail more than once but as long as you learn something from your mistakes and correct them for the future then it isn’t really a failure if something of substance can be gained from it. Just know as the world still turns, although your current job situation may not be ideal or glorious, it serves an overall purpose.
It’s alright to be normal. It’s alright to have a job. Don’t let the Dame Dash’s of the world, these materialistic superficial predators, corrupt you. Real happiness doesn’t come from how much money is in your bank account, how many cars you have or how many attractive women you’ve been with because at the end of the day all that doesn’t matter. What matters is how we’ve spent our time on this earth trying to make it better for others and NOT stepping on others in an attempt to climb a metaphorical never ending mountain top to show the world you’ve made it at the risk of losing your own soul.