Race My Mind
The world is moving fast. Every moment, there is a big change happening. That is what the narrative is. And yes, while that is true - that is true in terms of the technology. More so, its implementation. We’re all riding the AI wave. Unlike the rise of personal computers or even the internet, its access has been quick. And so it feels like things are changing, moving quicker. However, the narrative is not so true for us humans.
You see, things still take time for us. Building a wealth of knowledge, or even wealth, still takes time. Building businesses still takes time. Experience of 5 years, still takes 5 years. Our learning capabilities, our capability to open up our perspective horizons still takes time. Sure, people around us learnt prompt engineering, but that can hardly be considered a new feat - given that, in general, we are much capable of learning things. You give a child an object, and the hardwired curiosity leads the way to learn about the object at hand.
Keeping the rare prodigy cases from our species aside, any skill you pick is going to take a certain amount of time to learn. I still remember an advertisement for a local swimming class from 2014. The flashy headline - learn swimming in 24 hours. How? The classes were 6 times a week for an hour each day. It would take about a month to learn it.
The point is not the marketing here, although it is a fantastic example of a good advertisement. The point is that things are going to take time. That one fitness expert you found on Instagram yesterday, has been working on her “fitness” for a long time now. The algorithm has finally been kind to her and her target demographic is finally finding her now. It is never an overnight success. Becoming a celebrity is sometimes overnight, because it is a spotlight. To equate it to success is, well, subjective.
In this age, the vast exposure to the dimensions of human capabilities is both inspiring and paralysing. We see another one from our species with similar background, physique, qualification, and experience, and we immediately have feelings. We put them as the benchmark for ourselves. And while planning to achieve or surpass it, we start telling ourselves the stories. The stories about a future full of possibilities and achievements, once the benchmark is surpassed. The stories about where we come from and where we can go.
These are the dreams. The dreams that paralyse us. We see the possibilities of the future and contrast it with our present, which by no means aligns. We see the potential in the mirror, sourced from the “benchmark” and feel defeated. A defeat in the race, which we were never supposed to run. Atleast, not right away.
To do or not to do, both are choices. These days, the world seems to be running. Marathons, half-marathons, Ironman, Hyrox and plenty others. Take a bit of time and think whether you want to be in these runs. A lemon-and-spoon race is a very good race, but only if that is your choice. And not the choice of the benchmark stranger on the internet.
That said, failure is never a permanent state. I will not bore you with the gym quotes here. However, for further pondering, failure is a pattern woven in the blanket of life. It is just another experience.
Don’t lose in the races you’re not part of.
F1 enthusiast and ponder-mongerer,
S
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