Always the numbers but never the name

Sorry for the long silence, I’ve had a few longer-than-usual days (12 hours with many annoying holes).

It is easy to glide through the steps of education, just passing whatever you need to pass, doing no extra work to excel. Just enough to get through, get certified, get a job. The time not used for cramming to excel can be used for a myriad of possibilities from sleeping and partying to working or learning about something else. Some glide higher, some glide lower. There is a problem with this way of life.

Ambition, or the lack thereof.

It is a well-known opinion that success is determined, among other things, by a person’s ability to focus on a task. By that I do not mean monotasking skills, but the ability to keep working on something without anything getting in the way, distracting you. This allows multitasking as some people are better able to perform a task when they have Rolling Stones blasting in the background, or when going out for a jog (this would have to be a mental task, such as figuring out topics for a paper or what to write in an article). In essence, it is the ability to get things done. Do it without inspiration, at the wrong time (e.g not during a creative prime), while being consumed by distractions… and your task will either be left incomplete or completed half-assed. Gliding through means being not motivated enough to perform tasks with brilliant determination. The results rarely top-notch. And when trying to get a job, it is often the results potential employers check for and want to see, thus gliding can bring problems with filling the purpose of gliding, it could even counteract its aim.

But what if gliding is subjective to tasks? You glide through some things to rock in others.

In theory, this can help offset the lost academic results by creating results in field less popular and/or more specific. Glide through physics to pick up some philosophy, glide through anatomy to learn some medical law, there are plenty of possible examples. But the offset is only effective if there are results, something learned, something gained. “What is of use?” is an excellent guide to prioritizing. Now, you might think that this is thinking is way too practical to allow a person to enjoy life, task knowledge alone is not power. Point is, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” tends to apply. Without hobbies, parties, friends, the chances of having an enjoyable life are pretty slim. Not only don’t you find someone to grow old with, you also decrease the chance of getting a job – you lack social skills. And you are surprisingly likely to go mad living under a rock. Therefore enjoying your life while making sure you can enjoy it when you grow older is a vital part in making sure you can enjoy it later. You know you can do more, be more. Gliding is okay, as long as it has a purpose. All you need is some ambition. Sure, you can’t not always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find you get what you need.