29 lessons learned in 29 days

Lesson 10 — Consider The Reality To Live Your Dreams

Dreaming big is not at odds with being realistic.

A few days ago, I successfully completed my 29-day writing #KainosChallenge. I’ve shared 29 lessons I learned during my challenge on the 29th day of writing. Today, I’m going to develop lesson 10,

Be realistic, not utopian. — Me, Gabriel (Kainos).

The Marseillais Syndrome

I live in the south of France. In the south there is a famous city called Marseille. In Marseille, people have a singing accent and they love to tell stories with a lot of dynamism and gestures (and they don’t hesitate to exaggerate).

This gave the following French proverb,

“Eh dis-donc, tu ne serais pas Marseillais, toi ?” (Translation: “Hey, don’t you exaggerate a little bit?”)

You say this when someone exaggerates, regardless of the conversation. It can be about the number of goals they scored in their video game or the weights they lifted at the gym 😂.

I think you understand the meaning of this French proverb now…

Now let’s talk about what I called the “Marseillais syndrome” itself. It is a syndrome that makes the person who has it exaggerate about his life. Everything is about exaggeration.

For example, if this person is on a diet and eats a piece of chocolate, he’ll think he’s gained a few pounds. So he’ll blame himself by doing something extreme: not eating for a day or eating apples for three days.

(You’re probably wondering “Aren’t you a Marseillais, Gabriel?”, and in this situation you’re right, I’m exaggerating the example 😁).

And this is where I want to go with this: to be a person infected by the Marseillais syndrome is to be utopian. You’re no longer in reality, you’re living in a utopia.

A utopia. A world in which everything seems perfect. When you fail, you think you can do better by making radical decisions. But in reality, you don’t stick to them and you fail. But if you have the Marseillais syndrome, your self-esteem is clear, because when you catch a fish that’s 2 centimeters long, you think it’s 1 meter!

The lesson: It’s important to keep your feet AND your head on the ground.

Don’t detach yourself from reality because of your mistakes. It’s okay to miss a day on your quest. You don’t have to overreact. Even if it’s been several days that you’ve missed. Even if it’s been months, years, decades. What is not okay is to refuse to admit the reality of your lacks and react to them in a rational, tangible way.

Don’t just throw out utopian thoughts about your progress or how you’re going to solve your problems, but stay real. Be real when you write. Be real when you speak. Be real when you’re in a situation. Do not avoid anything, embrace the whole reality. It will help you achieve your goals. It will help you succeed and live your craziest dreams.

Are you a Marseillais? Let me know in the comments 💬.

Sincerely yours,

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