I’ve recently found myself thinking back to my last year of high school. It was University acceptance time and I was getting nervous. My two safety schools had already given my my acceptance but the School I really wanted to go to still hadn’t made up their mind.
My guidance counselor had me in for one of our regular meetings and I shared with her my fear of not getting in. She paused and looked at me. A small smile developed and she said:
Riz, don’t worry. No matter which student comes in here, with whatever aspiration, for whatever school, they all come back and tell me that they couldn’t be happier. It didn’t matter if they get into their first choice school or not.
I walked out of there thinking “crazy lady!” Lucky for me I didn’t have to put that theory to the test; I got into Queen’s, did really well, met lots of wonderful people, and had the time of my life.
The reason I’ve started thinking about high school again is it’s that time of year at Rotman: Second years are all freaking out to get into Investment Banking and Consulting and first years are worried that their marks won’t be high enough to get into Investment Banking or Consulting. I’ve found myself telling everyone not to worry too much about it, that they should just do their best, and repeating some version of what my guidance counselor told me. Quite often I get the “you’re crazy” look.
Over my life I’ve had many triumphs and failures. As I look back, I don’t think I would have been much happier if I had turned my failures into triumphs: Got the girl, didn’t get the girl; got the A, got a not-so-A-mark; scored the goal, scored on my own net; got the job, got a big “you’re a loser buddy.” It hasn’t really mattered to me as far as how happy I feel today… at least that’s the best that I can tell.
My “first year buddy” recently called me on this thinking and I remembered Dan Gilbert’s TED talk. I love TED talks and Dan’s is one of my favorite. You can buy his argument or not (there are some people in the comments section who don’t buy it) but it’s a talk to watch.
Don’t worry be happy now Do doot do do do do do do do do doot do , doo do do do do
Hey Riz,
Thanks for this great post. It’s very true.
This is why I’ve decided not to study for my econs quiz at all. After all, no matter what, I’ll be happy, right?
Cheers!
Ha Lihor!
You will be happy in the long run, regardless of how well you do on the quiz. That being said, you should probably still try your best. It is still important to set goals and try to achieve them–just don’t lose your sanity and miss out on life today for fear of not reaching that goal.
Take me for example. Today I went sailing. I could have probably got a huge jump start on many projects coming down the pipe but I’m not to concerned… Getting a B+ over an A- isn’t worth not sailing on the last day of the season.
Synthetic happiness… it’s a great thing.
p.s. Save the cheerleader
Sounds like Tunerds has gone all hippy on us!