Consider the air you’re breathing right now as the last bit of subsidized oxygen you’ll ever get.
Prior to graduating, you rode academia’s conveyor belt of manufactured ‘participation’ progress, a systemic conveyor belt designed to move you forward as long as you didn’t jump off. Now, the belt has stopped. You are standing at the edge of a vast, churning ocean of indifference. Congratulations, you’re finally looking at the Real World.
Most people treat the phrase ‘Real World’ as a cliché because they’re terrified of its actual definition: a high-stakes playing field that doesn’t care about your potential. It doesn’t respond to excuses or wishful thinking. The world is fueled by results and therefore responds only to movement. You’re either creating value, or you’re just taking up space.
It’s time to start moving.
Your life is entirely under your control. Every move you make, and every risk you take, is your signature on the world. I wasn’t raised expecting favours, which, in hindsight, was the greatest gift my parents ever gave me. Once you stop expecting a handout, you start building something of value.
Throughout my career, I’ve seen brilliant minds rot because of a single flaw: entitlement. It is psychological cancer. If you start your first job under the delusion that you’re owed a lifestyle because you have a degree, you’re self-sabotaging. The world, and especially employers, has very efficient ways of deleting those who don’t add value.
Success isn’t something that happens to you; it must be fought for in a world that wants you to be mediocre. Norman Mailer, whom I recommend you read, understood the ‘spooky’ nature of effort; that there’s a certain amount of violence in the pursuit of success.
Mediocrity is the default setting of the universe; it’s the gravity that pulls everyone down. This gravitational pull can be avoided by being very careful about who you associate with. It is detrimental to your success to be surrounded by people who believe life is someone else’s responsibility—the government’s, their employer, or their parents. They’re wrong. Rising above the din of mediocrity requires that you be intense, to be what those who are stagnant call ‘unreasonable.’
Be unreasonable.
It would be remiss of me not to mention the most profound change in the way we live since the combustion engine: artificial intelligence.
English writer and philosopher Paul Kingsnorth points out in his book Against The Machine that we are willingly trading our humanity for convenience. Consider how we voice our concerns, as you may have, about ‘dehumanization’ while hypocritically using AI to write our resumes, cover letters, documents, reports, emails, and presentations. You likely used AI to assist you with your last assignments.
Sadly, we’re using the most powerful tool ever created to dilute what makes us human, our ability to think.
AI is destroying ‘the middle.’ It is deleting the safe, white-collar roles where people used to hide and ‘put in their time.’ The hiding spots are gone. The days of sitting behind a desk without adding direct value to an employer’s profitability are over.
You need to be remarkable.
You need to be irreplaceable.
As AI scales, ‘stability’ is no longer found in a cubicle or a credential. Stability is found in one place: being the person the Machine can’t replicate. The Machine will handle the volume; it will do entry-level tasks better and faster than you. Don’t compete on volume—you’ll lose. Your career longevity will be dictated by your ability to navigate the complex, the empathetic, and the physical. These are the human dances that code can’t replace.
While the ‘safe’ white-collar jobs are disappearing, opportunity isn’t. It’s just moving. It’s moving toward the people who are willing to be uncomfortable. The world is built by those who show up, not the “quietly brilliant” waiting to be discovered. That’s a fairy tale. Opportunities are reserved for those who pick up the phone, walk into the room, and demand to be heard.
If you call yourself an introvert, stop. Learn to perform. The Machine doesn’t have a sensor for your internal monologue. It only detects two things: output and presence. If you aren’t visible, you don’t exist.
Nobody speaks about how achieving success is a lonely pursuit. It requires total, radical responsibility. Envision your life as a startup with a headcount of one. You’re the CEO of your own existence. Start acting like it.
When you start your first job, don’t look for ‘work-life balance,’ that’s what the mediocre value. Look for the work. Look for problems. Find the hardest, most thankless task and own it. Become the person who solves problems, not the one who just identifies them. Identifying a problem is easy and worthless; execution is where the Success Gods live. Don’t point at the problem, fix it! That is how you become indispensable.
Ask yourself: what can I physically deposit into the workplace or my community right now? If you’re honest, your answer will likely be “not much.” That’s okay. Everyone starts with “not much.” Your mission is simple: Get better.
Spend your twenties in a state of aggressive self-improvement. Read the books others find boring. Do the jobs others think are beneath them. Work the hours others won’t. Work in the office and get to know those who are where you aspire to be one day. Guard your health. Realize that opportunities are attached to people; join Toastmasters and take a Dale Carnegie Course, learn to engage strangers, and master small talk.
Most importantly, kill your sense of entitlement. Take heed of what Naval Ravikant said: “Desire is a contract that you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want.”
Despite the digital decay, your future is brighter than you probably think, or have been told, provided you realize it’s entirely in your hands. You have more leverage than any generation in history. While the Machine is powerful, it is predictable. What is also predictable—and always has been—is that the person who maintains perseverance and a willingness to do what others won’t, will always find a path.
Your future will be determined by what you contribute, not by what you think you are ‘due.’ While you aren’t entitled to success, you are entirely capable of achieving it.
About The Author
