People seem to try very very hard to convince others that they’re something they’re not – even when they don’t even want to be that thing.
They wonder how they can convince a job they don’t want to hire them; how to write a cover letter that properly disguises the contempt they have for the very role they’re applying for. Or they try to figure out how to be attractive to a kind of partner that they would be exhausted by dating. Or how to get a college that they don’t want to attend to admit them.
Most of the time, people don’t even realize that they’re doing this. They’re trying hard for the sake of trying hard, to follow a proscribed general path that in no way applies to them directly.
You don’t need to get into Harvard, land some high-paying job, and date that high-maintenance beauty queen. Do it if you want to. But – and this is a radical idea, I know – don’t do it if you don’t want to.
If you’re trying to “fake” your way into a goal, and the process is so incredibly frustrating that you can’t imagine how you’ll succeed at it – maybe you shouldn’t. Pursuing a goal shouldn’t be something you hate. Don’t just do it out of fear of the alternative – a life of no accomplishments or success. Just look for something else to do instead.
The Opportunity Machine 