As a side product of my latest Jumanji (2017-) obsession, I came across a video where Dwayne Johnson, one for the actors in the movie, says he has a degree in criminology from college. I was instantly thrilled. Stoked, in fact, so stoked. Why?
Because he's proof that you can succeed in life without ever using your college degree.
Ever since I retired from the field that my university degree dictated - which, incidentally, was a couple of months after graduating - I've been plagued with the idea of having wasted years of my life by getting a degree I would never use again. Okay, yeah, having the safety net of a degree is a nice feeling. If I don't make it with my own business, I can always go back to that profession.
And immediately after saying that out loud my brain is screaming, ALWAYS burn the bridges! If you didn't have a degree, you would HAVE to make your business work! Now you can - and will! - slack off because you won't die if you fail! Lazy bastard!
(Yes, my brain is Dan Peña.)
At times, when things aren't going as well as I'd hoped, I find myself taking an evening stroll and wondering how far I could have already got if I had started with my own business right after high school. How good could my writing be now with those extra years of practice? How many business ventures could I have made succeed already? How good could I have become with coming up with ideas?
Stop it. Just stop it. This is not productive at all. You can't turn back time. You can't go back and make different decisions. Instead, trust that everything that has ever happened in your life, every "bad" move you've made, will connect in the end.
Who knows - maybe that degree saved your life in some butterfly effect type of way. And if that's true, a few years of studying was definitely worth it all.
RK
Photo by Rafal Wilinski on Unsplash
