Naturally, it all hinges on
whether he passes a single history test. He tries studying, but it never happens
for one reason or another. It’s the night before the test, and Bart is desperate.
He prays to God (fun fact, the only Simpsons character with five fingers) for a
miracle, anything to get him more time.
And it happens. It snows. Bart
buckles down, studies, and passes with something like a 51%.
This post isn’t a comment on
praying or religion or how amazing The
Simpsons is after 25 seasons. It’s about being so backed into a corner that
any energy left over from worrying gets spent on coming up with elaborate
scenarios by which you could get your work done, if only something were different.
I’ve wished for snow days, in
London, in September. I’ve wished
that I didn’t have to sleep, or that I could make copies of myself to be
amazing at every aspect of life by specializing, or that I could have any number of other superpowers.
This is indicative of two things:
the first is that I’m a little too into comics; the second is that I’m very
good at distracting myself.
Now, saying that I spend a good
amount of time wishing for weird powers is probably not the best thing to write
in a blog that will inevitably be read by people thinking of hiring me. But ask
yourself, are you so different? In what ways do you procrastinate? Do you
imagine being smarter, taller, or faster? More intelligent? More sociable? We all have the same problem;
I just build an origin story around mine.
There’s nothing wrong with a little fantasizing. But I’ve
discovered that the times I do it the most are the times I’m the farthest
behind. My brain, and I think yours as well, just wants a way to not be
stressed. You know who’s never stressed? Basically every superhero except
Spider-Man.
The problem with looking for quick
fixes is that we take energy away from the one solution we know will solve our
problems: work. Work might not sound like a superpower, but sometimes it can
seem to be. Plain and simple, if you’re stressed, ask yourself how much real
work you’ve put into solving your problem, ask yourself if you can put in more,
and sit down and do it.
It’s not glamorous, but the path of
real heroes rarely is. Working hard is a power we all have, or rather can choose to have. Make the choice.
Just remember that with great
power, comes great responsibility.
It’s Thanksgiving in Canada, so I
wanted to thank all of you for reading. In typical Canadian fashion, but also
because I screwed up, I wanted to apologize for not posting these past couple
of weeks. If this post was any indication, business school has been hard, but I’m
working to make sure it doesn’t stay that way. Thanks for sticking with me. C-Suite
Dreams!
Editor’s
note: If you have a topic idea, I’d love to hear from you! Suggestions can be
made in the comments section or on Twitter @JeremyDeMello.
