Will

The last few days, I have been enthralled in the book Will by Will Smith. Autobiographies of successful people have always caught my eye and I knew that I would have to read this book at some point when it was released. 

Somewhere between him slapping the shit out of Chris Rock and being in some of my favorite movies growing up - I’ve always wondered what caused his meteoric success. 

If this is what you are looking to get out of this book - I can give you that answer without the dirty details. In fact - I can give you the answer to every autobiography of successful people that I have ever read - from Phil Knight to Steve Martin. It all boils down to persistent, hard work. Putting yourself in a position to fail, learning from it and doing this over and over and over and over and over again. 

You’re welcome.

I love hearing the dirty details so this wouldn’t stop me from reading it and I hope it doesn’t stop you. 

This was an expected component of the book with the uncertainty of how his childhood looked being the unexpected component. 

What really was unexpected to me was how the book concluded. 

After amassing amazing success in many ways - Will decided to shift his approach to life, focusing more on the quality of it and embracing the moment. 

This got my mind turning.

This is a message that gets repeated redundantly from many people that have amassed tons of wealth. They realize that the pursuit of happiness (ehh, see what I did there?) is not in material items but in fulfillment in whatever form that takes for you. 

The general theme is service to others. 

But I can’t help but wonder…. Would they feel the same way if they weren’t ultra-affluent? If they didn’t sacrifice years of their lives to be at the top of their game and have a massive, disposable amount of wealth that they can explore fulfillment and what it means to them? 

I’m not even remotely wealthy but I realize that I am fortunate to be able to think about my personal fulfillment and not my daily survival. 

Would I even be talking about contents like this if I had to use the $12 in Amazon credits to partially fill up my gas tank instead of buying this book? 

It’s such a strange thought - to realize how fortunate you are. To realize that you have more in common with Will Smith than some people within our society that have to make hard decisions every day like feeding themselves or feeding their children. 

I have always had a desire to impact these people. But I don’t know that they will relate to my story as I grew up ranging between lower middle class and middle class. I was always fed, clothed, and able to participate in extracurricular activities like sports.  

Sure, I started wearing XL and XXL clothing in middle school and it was way too big for me at the time. Sure I could feel the pressure of money to the point that when I got a job, I tried to avoid asking my parents for money as much as I possibly could, paying miscellaneous expenses that I could have asked them to pay for. But I don’t know the struggle like some people do, and recognize the privilege that coincides with that. 

I wonder if my content will ever be discovered by those I believe I can help the most by giving them a different perspective through which they can choose to view life - giving them a direction to strive for while they fight for their survival

I recognize that some people will connect with my style, my voice, my personality more than others. I’m totally fine with that. It’s just hard to think that your impact is limited by your ability to get your audience to connect with you. 

At the same time - this validates why I am up after midnight writing yet another piece that nobody will see for a hot minute. Each repetition I get, I get better. I become a better storyteller - I become better at connecting to you. 

Will at one point in the book talked about having the vision of crafting the perfect joke that made every single person laugh - that touched people from various backgrounds similarly. While I’m not the king of comedy, although sometimes I like to pretend I am, this resonated incredibly with me. 

My ability to connect with you and your ability to connect with others is the sole determining factor of our ability to make an impact on others. So to have the impact that I want to have, I have to sharpen this skill daily. 

Just as Will did.