The reasons why you will probably fail (and me too)

You are not that special

Chances are, you are not that special. Actually, it is quite likely that you are pretty average, and there is nothing wrong with that. One of the maladies of this century is believing to be a BIG SHOT.

There is a toxic culture propagating the West, which stemmed primarily from the United States, that pushes you to believe that if you want, you can make it. They say that if you try really hard and put your heart into something, tables will turn, the good ones will prevail, and karma will reward you in the end. One of the funniest phrases I still hear sometimes is:

“Everyone can be the president of the United States of America”,

to which I laughingly reply “BALLS!”.

We need to stop lying to ourselves, ladies and gentlemen. We have been indoctrinated into thinking that our world is some sort of Grimm brothers’ fairy tale where everything is fine and there is always a happy ending around the corner. Therefore I feel obliged to list the reasons why you (and obviously I) will probably fail:

1. Hard work is not enough

How many times have you been told that you need to work harder on your dreams? That only the ones that never give up will eventually make it? There is some form of fetishism nowadays for working hard. They will sell you courses, journals, and strategies to increase your productivity like if that alone will ever make a difference. Millions of people work dutifully on their projects, careers, and dreams and eventually end up with nothing. Countless people spend their lives dedicating sweat and tears to fight for something worth it to them but still fail miserably. (Don’t throw at me the corny “At least they tried!” stuff, I might vomit and have no paper bag next to me). Charles Bukowski rightfully noted that “Perseverance without talent is useless”, and although I think that this analysis is correct, old Buk forgot a very important point.

2. Talent is not enough

In case you didn’t notice, the world is full of talented people. In every part of our society, there are millions of individuals who are really good at what they do. In politics, sports, arts, academia, and everything in between there are amazing human beings that devolve their lives to But often, being talented is not enough. Only a few people reach the top and is not necessarily due to talent alone. Take sports:

Approximately 450 players are in the NBA, but tens of millions play the sport worldwide. Are these 450 the only ones with talent? Obviously no, because talent alone often is not enough.

Tens of millions of people play tennis worldwide, but you only hear about the usual 10–15 athletes who are on top of their game. Are they the only ones with talent? Obviously no. I am confident that by scouring the world you would find incredible talents worthy of the best accolades in their sport, but talent is not enough to make it.

Believing that the ones at the top made it only due to their respective talents is ludicrous.

Millions of hard-working talented individuals every year show up for job interviews, castings for the film industry, submit CVs, drafts for books, songs for reviews, and so on and so forth but still fail despite their amazing profiles; that is just the nature of our world.

3. Luck is not enough Multiple individuals have been successful in their lives due to multiple reasons, one of these being luck. When speaking about luck I am not referring to fate or destiny, but about being fortunate to find oneself in certain circumstances at the right time. For instance, some of us have better resources than others, these being visibility, wealth, beauty, or living in a part of the world that has better access to certain services. Naturally, some of us have a higher chance to be successful in certain areas of life compared to an individual living in an undeveloped poor country. To further prove my point, I must stress that luck alone is not enough to be successful at something in life. You might happen to be wealthy, with very good connections and acquaintances, in the right place at the right time but still fail at what you do.

Therefore, if you make it, good enough, be grateful and give me a call; but if you fail, welcome to the club, the club of “normal people”.

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Giovanni Foglia