Strive to be a bigger circle →
Consider that the orange circle in the picture below is a person. Say, Mr. Circle. All other geometric figures are people that this person admires. Even though there are similarities between these figures, everyone is unique in its own way.
“You can be anything you want to be, if you just try hard enough”. At first, Mr. Circle decides that he wants to be a star.
He tries hard but he fails. He then decides to be a square.
He tries hard but he fails. During his life he tries to be each of the figures that he admires the most.
At the end of his life, Mr. Circle is completely confused because he’s not able to say who he really is.
“You cannot be anything you want to be - but you can be a lot more of who you already are”. Trying to be anything else than what you already are, is a waste of time.
Instead of wasting your time, create great relationships with the people that you admire and kindly ask for their advice. Figure out how their advice is useful to you. Adapt. Grow. Be a bigger circle!
PS: Think of the same story when you evaluate anything external to you as “inspiring”. Instead of trying to imitate something that seems to be successful, step back and figure out how that piece of inspiration can be applied in the context of your values and strengths.
