You Might Not Succeed

And pretending like everyone can is deeply problematic.

There is a lot of self-help advice on the Internet that claims to give people the secrets to success. People are telling you to hustle harder; to fake it till you make it; to smile more; to state your intentions. And of course, all of these people are willing to tell you exactly how, as long as you pay them something for their guidance, or if they are desperate, to shower them with attention.

I am not one of those people. I am the asshole telling you that these people are full of shit.

Here is the cold, bitter truth — you might not succeed. That idea you have, the one you sweat and toil over, might not earn you the fame or notoriety you desperately want it to.

There is this pervasive myth in America that if you work hard, that effort will translate into success. This concept is called a meritocracy, though it is referred to almost exclusively as the American Dream, and it runs pretty deep in the American mythos. In the words of Senator Tammy Duckworth — who is by no means a conservative icon — “The American Dream I believe in is one that provides anyone willing to work hard enough with the opportunity to succeed.” The American public is heavily invested in the meritocratic ideal of success coming from hard work. It’s something heard in countless rags-to-riches stories from…