Childhood advice is ruining our generation.

Growing up, there was one common piece of advice that every child heard—you can be anything you want to be when you grow up. That’s great advice for the 6 year old who wants to be a space cowboy, but at some point you have to accept that it’s not entirely true. Okay, you can bust your ass and become successful in most careers but there are just some things not everyone can do. The 30-year-old cart-pushing drummer is probably always going to remain the former. Unless he’s struck by a bolt of lucky lightning (which I think has happened maybe twice in history), chances are he wasn’t meant to be a rock star. Regarding the 25-year-old “actress” working in the local theater? Feel free to either move to Hollywood, where you’ll get a big fat reality check, or give up, move out of your parent’s house, and try something else. There’s probably something average that you’re decent at but haven’t ever put in the effort because you wanted to be famous.

This doesn’t just apply to embarrassing wannabes, either. It goes for everyone who will end up a failure because they’re dedicating their lives to something they’ll probably never achieve. The kid growing up who couldn’t figure out the difference between chemistry and physics is not going to make a good doctor. And there will be plenty of evidence of this along the way, believe me. Med schools will deny you, you’ll get turned down for internships, and seriously, you should take a hint. But no, instead you go to school in the Bahamas, or Aruba, or some other obscure place that will eventually give you a degree that will allow you to practice medicine on actual people. Am I the only one who’s disturbed by that? To me that’s like having my mother type up a pretty certificate on Word and handing it to me with the advice from childhood- “here’s your support, go be what you want to be!”

What I’m getting at here is that a disturbing number of people carried that childhood advice into adulthood and it’s not doing anyone any good. At some point in your life you have to accept that your parents were just trying to encourage a child’s active mind, not give you a life lesson that will end up lowering the standards of every professional career. Those standards are there for a reason and there are millions of jobs that people who don’t meet those standards can do instead. It’s okay to strive to be very successful at an everyday job. Not everyone has to be a rocket scientist, or a brain surgeon, so please, stop trying if you’re no good. Let it go, appreciate your parents’ advice, but stop following it to the letter. It’s embarrassing for you and everyone who watches you waste your time failing, including your parents.