The dog eat dog real world certainly doesn’t think so. We need to tell them like it is.
“Young adults entering the real world vastly underestimate how much time it takes to win.
It’s because they are conditioned by their environments & social media to believe they are uniques, despite following the same path millions of others follow.
You’re not special.
Earn it.”
-Ray Zingler on X
It’s a hard pill to swallow.
But you must get it down.
You see, many kids are born into bubble towns where they have resources, opportunities, great school’s, and loving parents. They have people who will tell them “they can achieve anything they set their minds to!”
And while fundamentally speaking, these are all huge positives (that I am grateful to have experienced as well) there is a negative to this that people don’t like to talk about.
The truth is that this type of reality isn’t actually reality. It’s merely a perception of reality based on limited exposures to the real world.
And while being fortunate enough to be blissfully naïve of the real world comes with its perks during childhood, once kids enter the real world, a world that doesn’t care about their perfectly manicured upbringing, AP classes, or who their daddy is. They get punched in the face. Hard.
It’s because everything they lived and were told growing up suddenly gets thrown out the window as they walk into the dog eat dog world that doesn’t care about them (unless you’re a Trust Fund kid, but even then, many of those kids find a way to screw it up.)
“I got my college degree! Give me my dream job!”
Oh, you did? How cute.
3,000,000 other people like you got degrees last year, 3,000,000 more people will get them this year, and 3,000,000 more will get them next year.
But sure! Since you’re so special, we’ll just feed you your dream job and linear path to success and fulfillment because your mommy always told you how special you are!
I mean what the f*ck are we doing teaching our kids that it works this way?
If anything, “the degree” is getting more and more undifferentiated these days, while trade and real world skills are becoming the hot commodities.
But sure, lead your kid to believe that a “business degree” from Who Cares University is the key to his future.
We need to stop lying to kids and sharing with them the harsh realities.
We need to tell them how hard it actually is and how much time it actually takes.
And it’s only getting harder and taking even longer.
Truth is important.
