One day, I will be so famous and rich that I will have my own private jet. My private jet will have a hot tub inside. Some engineers will have to design it to be turbulent-resistant. I will have a direct line to the president of the United States. I will talk to tens of thousands of people, if not millions. Life will be extraordinary.
Or not. Maybe I will not make it. To be honest, I will most likely not make it. Who knows where I will be a year or five years from now? Will I still be performing stand-up comedy? Will I still be average?
Should my goal be to “make it”? I think not. It is a cute dream to have, and it is hard to avoid fantasizing about it, but there are many reasons why it should not be a goal.
It can put unnecessary pressure on my shoulders. Doing it for a future reward takes away from the present moment. The journey should be fun! It will be disappointing if I didn’t make it. I might feel like a failure.
But most importantly, I have already made it! Standing on an open-mic stand and trying to make people laugh is the essence of what stand-up comedy is. I don’t need to wait 5 or 10 years for the slight chance of actually “making it”. I can go on a stage tomorrow and try my best to make people laugh. Yes, being rich and famous sounds fun, but making people laugh is sweet too.
And that is good enough.