As a five-year-old, I knew I was going to be a famous rock star one day. A few years later, I was bound to be an NFL player. Then, an NBA player, a scientist, a photographer, a music producer; subsequently came a 42-subscriber youtube channel, and a few years later, a Tik-Tok account where my friend and I received over 350 thousand views on one of our skits. Can’t forget about freshman year when I knew I would be a race car driver. To say I’ve always known what I wanted for my future wouldn’t be completely false. Filmmaking has always been an interest of mine and is what I will be majoring in next year. But I sure have had numerous diverse plans for my future over my eighteen-and-a-half years on this planet.
A mantra that I hear too often, in my opinion, is that you should live to make your younger self proud, or that you should consider your younger self’s opinion in decision making. Makes sense, right? Thinking about giving the younger you the life they always aspired to have is a stellar ambition to have, as well as an intrinsic motivator to achieve greatness. However, entertain me briefly. A few weeks ago, when sitting in my final advisory period, I received a letter from my younger self that I had written in October of 2022, my freshman year. Opening the letter was a melancholic experience; seeing a letter from myself, to myself, that had been untouched for the previous 42 months was surreal. My 2022 self even made my 2026 self laugh once or twice. Now, in the letter, I’d also set expectations for myself and about where I’d be in life when I’d read the letter again. Some predictions hit, while others… not so much. Momentarily saddened, I questioned, “Why didn’t I give myself the life a younger me had always dreamt of?”
After my brief spell of sadness waned, I gave myself a reality check. The younger me had no way of knowing the trials and obstacles he would face over the next four school years. Not perfectly living up to the expectations set by a five year old, a twelve year old, or even a fifteen year old is perfectly reasonable, especially with us only being seventeen and eighteen. Now, this is not to say don’t have aspirations, don’t chase a dream, or don’t hold yourself to a standard. Nor is it to glorify mediocrity or complacency. My point is, it is not always realistic to perfectly live up to the expectations of someone who didn’t have the life experience of your current self. As long as you are constantly making an effort to better yourself, success will follow, even if it’s in a different form than you originally imagined. Don’t live based on the opinions of a version of you that no longer exists; live to make the current you proud.
