My apologies first off because this post will come across as a bit of a rant, however, I think the topic is valuable, so you will have to put up with it. Recently, there has been a fair amount of chatter about productivity and success. Lists and compendiums of habits or efforts of people who have been defined as successful based in their wealth/influence (which are often conflated to be the same) serve as Linkedin fodder and abound endlessly on the internet and social media. Working a 16+ hour day is worn as a badge of honour and is often touted as being the road to success. But here in lies the problem, in my view there is an incredible amount of unspoken privilege in this discussion. For example, there are many folk in this world who work 16 hour days who have no hope of being "successful". In the western world we hear constantly of people working two jobs just to pay rent, and they aren't doing so in a way that pays homage to the gods of capitalism (who started with a penny and are now millionaires), they are doing so as a part of a seemingly never ending spiral of survival. Outside of the privileged parts of our world, this s theory, that working hard results in financial success, is even more unrealistic as people paid below subsistence wages work endless hours to create the shirts that we can buy for $20 at the local mall. This notion of financial success coming as a direct result of hard work does however fit in nicely with the traditional narrative of those who have bought into the notion of the free market. The poor are poor because they don't work hard enough and if they just worked harder they would no longer be poor or need support.
Also, let's just examine this notion of success. I am one who doesn't work an official 16 hour day. Number one, I can't. I have two little men who count on me, not just to put a roof over their head but also to be there, and I recognize the privilege that I have in being able to make that decision. Secondly, it's about how you define success. My definition is more closely tied to the sons I am raising and less to the $$$ in my bank account, the car I drive, or my investment income. You may in fact value different things, and so what I would ask is let's end this guilt trip we place on each other. I won't judge your choice and you won't judge mine recognizing that life is about choices, sacrifices and outcomes. The mere fact that we have power in any of these factors is a function of the power and privilege we have been afforded and has little to do with our value as a person.
So my little men, as you grow to recognize what exists around us I hope you see not only the effort that is made to be "successful" but that the outcome tied to that effort is a function of not just hard work but privilege. I also hope that you see the value in arriving at your own definition of success and that it comes from what fulfills you as a person. Life is too short to tie your value and worth to what is considered normative by others. Model your life after those you admire not just based on their bottom-lines but their level of happiness and for goodness sake don't brag about it. Don't get me wrong, it's important to be proud of who you are and how you live your life, but is equally important to recognize that having a choice is a privilege that not everyone has and that your decision is no better than those around you.
Love,
Dad.
PS - Despite what you may believe, I do not keep my guitar pic inside my guitar...
