Dream Bigger.
Growing up, we all have these crazy and insane dreams. To be astronauts, doctors, rappers, and hoopers. All of these crazy dreams because of the fact that we were all too naive and ignorant to recognize how much work and sacrifice goes into these dreams. We were just being kids, dreaming of doing the things that we loved.
I’ve been in an incredible position in my life lately. All of the years of unseen work is finally starting to come to the light. To be honest, though, I think my ignorance is one of my greatest blessings. As we get older, we obviously think things through a little bit more, doing each thing with a little bit more calculation than we would have when we were kids. Instead of thinking things through, I’ve been a little bit more of a simp, acting more so on my feelings than rationality.
When I moved back to the Bay from LA in February, I took a job at Apple. I had worked there prior to living in LA, so I was able to come back and work a different position. Getting a job at Apple isn’t easy and, to be honest, it pays pretty well. There’s no reason that I should have left Apple a few weeks ago other than the fact that it felt like the right thing to do. Rationally, Apple is the place to be. After all, it is one of the biggest companies in the world, who wouldn’t want to keep a job at Apple?
Fast forward to this week. I’ve had this dream of working for a particular organization/team since the moment I realized that I wasn’t going to hoop professionally (which is a looooooong time ago lol). I was presented this opportunity to interview for my dream organization. Anybody who knows me and knows me well knows exactly which team I’m talking about. And if you know me well, you also know that that would be a HUGE deal for me. It was. I started the interview process and, although I had made it past the first round of interviews, I had to decline to proceed. Going back to rationality - anyone in their right mind would take their dream job if they were presented with the opportunity, right?
As I’ve gotten older, I realize how important it is to try and stay young. This doesn’t mean be foolish or anything like that. It means to keep dreaming like we did when we were kids. I’m at a point where I see so many bigger and better opportunities that I did not think were possible when I was a kid. I haven’t by any means reached any of those opportunities just yet, but I see them somehow. It’s the ignorance in me that told me to leave Apple and to pass on my dream job and financial stability. It’s my ignorance that told me to drop out of college a year and a half ago without having a plan and genuinely believing that things would work out. It’s the ignorance in me now that still leads me to believe that I’m going to make it, somehow, someway. I’m not saying make life changing decisions because you feel like it. I’m saying believe in yourself. There’s no reason not to believe in yourself and all of the things you are capable of doing if you haven’t even tried yet. I honestly have no idea what I’m doing and where I’m going to end up, but I’m trying.
Be bold, be ignorant. Dream like we did when we were kids.
To Live and Prosper
- JSquared