My Two-Cents: Why Not You
Last Christmas break, my high school friend group had our yearly-ish get-together. We are all officially in the post-grad era. This leads to a greater lack of alignment of our schedules and timelines. Summer breaks seem like a figment of imagination from long ago. Our communication is much more sparse than it once was, which is a normal part of growing up and moving cities. So when we do manage to co-align schedules for a beer, the best part is hearing what everyone is up to nowadays. To examine how different our lives are now, and what these differences entail.
One of our friends is currently trying to go pro in golf (Jack), and our other friend, Noah (who happens to be the world's worst golfer), was asking him about what that really entails. Noah was a couple of Coors deep at this point. He pregamed the pregame and had to use his younger sister as a DD to the function. He was also really intent on understanding what exactly Jack’s “job” was (PGA tour bubble player). After some explaining, an inebriated yet astute Noah responded, “And why not you, man? Why Not You!” We all laughed along at what seemed to be a drunken praise, but Noah continued on – “No, seriously, man. If someone is going to do it, why shouldn’t it be you?” He continued to emphasize his point. I simultaneously opened up my notes app and added this thought of drunken stupor to the long and rambling list of things I eventually want to write about. And that same thought found me months later, writing now
Why not you? No, seriously, why not? Someone is going to do it. The “it” is irrelevant. It could be anything – graduate school, post-doc endeavors, a marathon, the “first” of something, a new invention. And why shouldn't it be you to do it? If you already have one foot in the door – the opportunity, a spot on the tour bubble, a seat in that program, your dream job interview – why shouldn’t you be the one to come out on top? Spoils to the victor is how it often goes, but who says you can’t be that victor?
It’s a simple proposition. But I think the sentiment extrapolates beyond Noah’s three words. Certain things may be beyond your control. There are many mindsets you can adapt that can hinder you from thinking that it can be you. But there’s also the flip side of that mindset: the scary yet freeing realization that maybe you do have all the correct tools in your toolbox. Maybe the next person to step through that door you’ve been wanting to crusade through is, in fact, you. Maybe you have all of the right qualifications on paper, and the final puzzle piece is telling yourself: It’s going to be me. Me who gets too drunk at the pregame and gives an awesome monologue to an old friend chasing his childhood dream. Me who makes it on the PGA tour. Me who jots this conversation down so I can elaborate on it later for someone else to read and say fuck it, let’s roll!
Success is not merely something that happens to others, and recognizing your own agency and potential is pertinent to going for it. And in doing so, we redefine what we believe we are capable of, accept uncertainty, and act with intention despite it. So perhaps the answer is not only that it could be you, but that it should be you.
