One Apple A Day #785 - being the next something
"I firmly believe you never should spend your time being the former anything."
Condoleezza Rice
I read this quote yesterday evening, and I feel it's the perfect follow-up for yesterday post.
When I introduce myself, I usually speak about what I'm doing or about the things I've done, my past works or achievements. I define myself by everything that took me where I am now.
Like most of the people I know does. I can't remember anyone introducing themselves as the next something.
And rarely in conversations among adults, we ask "who do you want to be?"
That's a question for children. As if, once we grow up, we should be already arrived or defined.
As I wrote yesterday, we define our present through the lenses of our past. Imagination is something for kids.
However, as the study of Professor Gary McPherson showed, our actions are an expression of how we see ourselves. If we see ourselves as former something, we will keep repeating what we have done. If we see ourselves as the next something, then we are setting ourselves on the path to get there.
That's why I like to call myself an author even if I haven't really published anything yet.