Some Of You Are Not Going To Make It

And that’s just the truth. I wouldn’t- I can’t tell you anything else but the truth. When a general goes into battle, he doesn’t tell his soldiers that they’re all going to make it out alive. Why? Because not only is it 1) not true, but also 2) real soldiers fight harder when death is near. This is part of the killer instinct I talked about. The general doesn’t need to sugarcoat a damn thing. Soldiers fight and soldiers die – they accept that as their role in life. They don’t need to be babied – if you’re a soldier already then you’re expected to be mature enough to understand what your role is and what the risks are. By reminding his soldiers that the situation is do-or-die, the general really isn’t telling them something don’t already know, much like how I talk to my readers. I can’t repeat enough the saying, “life is harsh“.  Not all of us are going to succeed at what we try. So why do I see so much self-help lit telling people that they’re going to achieve their wildest dreams? Do these authors really believe in what they’re selling?

Whatever the cause for their delusion, I’m here to set the record straight: You’re not going to succeed at everything you do. Many of you will fail. There’s simply no guarantee of anything in life, including happiness and success. I don’t say this to discourage you or encourage you – I’m just being honest for a second. I think you should be real enough to handle it. If you come to this blog regularly, then you at least possess some level of maturity and resolve and should be treated as an adult. I’m not going to insult your intelligence by telling you all that you’re special and going to accomplish everything you want to. Life doesn’t work that way and the sooner you understand that, the sooner you can get over your disappointments and fears.

Accomplishing great things is hard, being the best is even harder. How hard is it to be the best at something? There are hundreds of millions of basketball players around the world. I’m sure every one of them harbors some desire to be the best player or be among the best in the world, lets say the top 250 or so that make it to the NBA. But only 250 make it, and only 12 or 13 out of that 250 can raise the trophy above their head each year and claim that they were indeed the best. You thought you had it hard? Look at what kind of odds those are. If there are 300 million ballplayers who love basketball around the world (a very realistic number), and only 250 make it to the NBA, then the odds are 250/300,000,000. My calculator tells me that the chances are 0.000083333%. I had to press the buttons very carefully when entering 300 million because there were so many zeros, and copy and paste the result because it was too long to type out. Here, I’ll paste it again: 0.000083333. If we reduce the number of players to 100,000,000, the chance is still 0.00025%. A weak person might get discouraged at knowing that and quit before he even started. But what about the rest of the players that try and fail? How do they handle the risk of feeling that level of disappointment?

The truth is that they know the odds are against them. They know that making it to the very top and being the very best is highly improbable. But its not impossible, and in order to live life the best way they know how, they’re going to give it all they have, the consequences be damned. They lay their chips on the table and let the cards fall where they may. Many won’t make it. Many don’t. But that’s what being a soldier is all about – having that warrior spirit to go down fighting no matter what happens.

You don’t need to be babied. Whenever someone sugarcoats the truth for you, he gives your spirit an opportunity to remain weak. I’m still not sure what many self-help bloggers are thinking. Maybe they don’t want to scare readers away. Maybe they think that if they told you truth, you’d stop coming to their blog. If they think that, then they don’t think very much of you, to tell the truth. Maybe they don’t really know what they’re talking about at all. Whatever the case, you don’t need to be protected. There’s nothing beautiful or special about your weakness. You’ve nothing to be proud of if you haven’t accomplished anything. I might not even make it myself, but I sure as hell ain’t leaving without putting up a fight.