Whenever the book talks about the actor on the stage wishing to control everything, I often think of the quarterback position. It’s the guy with the ball. Every play, every time, it’s his ball. Who gets it and when: all up to him. I totally relate to wanting that level of control.
But I don’t want to be the quarterback. Never did. Once I understood that no one wants me in charge, I became the wide receiver: a petulant child always screaming for the ball.
I expect special privileges for my skills. You call me, I do an awesome job, you kiss my butt, I go away. It’s not easy. I don’t want to be in charge of the offense: I just want to be recognized as the best part of the offense.
I think growing up ostracized made me insularly to the point where I learned not to give a shit about other people. I go into fresh situations with new sets of people with the same dismal mind space: that everyone’s giving me the stink-eye.
So back to the wide receiver. It’s the f.u. position. I walk around with the “you need me more than I need you” attitude. That can work to some degree in the business world, but it’s not so effective with the general population. When presented my sulky ultimatum, almost everyone options to leave me alone. Who’s got the time for my nonsense?
To make matters worse, it’s getting harder and harder to live off my occasional awesomeness. There are younger, faster, better players now; all of whom want less money and give off far less attitude.
Lesson learned: it’s never too late to be humble.
The Truth: Being humble isn’t an admission of failure.
12 the hard way 