As the impending new season of American Idol looms forward we are usually introduced to a barrage of people auditioning who are not good singers. You might be one of those people who only watch the bad auditions because: “You can’t laugh at good people.” So you watch, you laugh and you actively wonder, “Do these people not hear themselves? Do they really think they sound good right now?!” Then, when they get rejected some people honestly seem surprised; then you feel sorry for them, but only for a short time because the producers are bringing a new lamb to be emotionally slaughtered on national television.
As much as it can be entertaining, to be honest, it sort of sets a small amount of fear in me. I sit back and wonder, what about me? There are so many things that I have planned for my life and I wonder, am I ambitious, or just delusional?
Sometimes, people have these passion visions, which is just tunnel vision but fancier. Some people can pinpoint what they want to do in life and then obsess over it. Now, this can be okay if you’re actively working toward it, strengthening your talent in it, and you’re improving. But it’s a bad thing when you… let’s say want to be an Olympic diver, but you’ve never been beyond the kiddie pool.
I’ve been there a number of times, like my convoluted plan to participate in a triathlon when my fear of drowning won’t let me get past 5 feet deep water. Until I get over this fear, and start back swimming, I can’t participate in the triathlon. I mean, that’s just the truth. Success doesn’t usually come in great leaps and bounds, no matter how ambitious we are.
But first, let’s address a few things. Now, no matter how crazy sounding some of those people on “American Idol” are; when they audition, they should also be applauded for stepping out on a limb and trying it. So many times we stop ourselves from progressing because of fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, fear of hard work, or even fear of success. But if you don’t try, you’ll never know, so allow your ambition to take that extra step toward where you want to go in life.
Next, let’s address the possibility of failure. Anytime you try to follow a passion you’re ultimately going to meet that scary being called failure. It’s a part of the game. But, true success seems to come to people who are persistent. Don’t allow your delusion to make you think that just because one failure came that just putting yourself out there once is enough to help you reach your dreams. Celeb success stories are examples of people who were persistent in following their passions. People who made adjustments where things needed to be fixed and talents needed to be honed.
Finally, let’s discuss adjusting. We as humans are meant to adapt. So let’s say you try to succeed in something, you have that passion vision and you’re going hardcore toward your dream; and then before you know it, the road to that dream is cut off. Take Jillian Michaels for example. She started out a personal trainer and then decided to follow her dream of being a Hollywood agent. She was going good for a few years and then got fired. Now being an agent was something that she felt was a big dream of hers and she spent years pursuing it and making it a career. But even though she hit that roadblock, she went back to personal training and the connections that she made as an agent helped her to get celebrity clients, and opened a door for her to be one of the trainers on “The Biggest Loser.”
A “no” doesn’t have to equate the end of success. Just because you hit a stop with what you were originally pursuing doesn’t mean that you can’t be successful in another arena. Keep your heart open to other avenues that you might be successful in. You want to be a rapper, but your YouTube videos are getting bad comments, maybe you’d be better at music producing? You want to be a model, but you’re not getting booked, maybe your success lies in photography? Success isn’t a one way street, keep your ambitions for a better life, but try to avoid the delusional road blocks.
But hey, what do I know? Look at William Hung…
Kendra Koger is ambitious but trying not to be delusional as well. Discuss the difference with her on her twitter @kkoger.
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