Everyone is Good at Something – Not Just a Cliche, It’s a Lie!

I’ve always had a problem with the “everyone is good at something” mentality… I mean, why does everyone have to be good at something? Isn’t there almost 7 billion people on this planet? Doesn’t it stand to reason that with that much diversity, there has to be some people who are simply pathetic at everything? I know there are some people who seem to be really good at everything so why not the opposite?

I’ll tell you why, it’s because people need to tell themselves something to help them feel better about themselves. When you aren’t good at anything, you tell yourself “everyone’s good at something!” and suddenly you feel a little better about yourself. You convince yourself that you just haven’t found what that one thing is yet. It may just be me, I’m a sadist like that, but I think it’s simply more frustrating and depressing to have people tell me that all the time, only to keep prodding along not being good at anything.

Instead, I’d be a lot happier knowing that not everyone has to be good at something. It’s o.k. to not be Gretzky playing hockey, or Jordan playing basketball or Gates taking over the computer industry. Reassure me that I don’t have to win the Olympics to be “just like everyone else.”

I know what you’re thinking, the purpose of the statement is to give you hope and to motivate you to get out there and try some more. But you have to realize that when someone is down, when they feel defeated, when they feel that they just don’t fit in with the rest of the world, a statement takes on a whole other dimension. Suddenly you feel like everyone has expectations of you that you “know” that you can not meet. It can be very demoralizing.

Instead, you should pay attention to the people who tell you just be happy with who you are. You don’t have to be good at something to be loved or even respected. Be confident in yourself even if you’re convinced that you’ll never rise up to be anything great. Because most people don’t and that’s o.k.

That doesn’t mean to stop practising or to stop trying new things. You should still keep the search going and keep experiencing new things because even if it turns out you’re not good at any of those things, at least you have those experiences, those adventures, those memories! And who knows, maybe you actually will find something that you are good at too! Maybe!

Don’t beat yourself up if you truly aren’t good at something, sure you suck because of it but so does almost everyone else. Us “average” people out number the “good at something” crowd 1000 to 1. We can take them in a fight…. even if it’s fighting that they’re good at.