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I had an idea the other day about life achievement: if you currently have no
plans to be worthy of a minor blurb on Wikipedia then you don’t really have
any plans. That’s a low bar, and yet it’s miles above what 99% of people I
know will ever accomplish.

Let’s unpack that.

What could you do in life that’s worthwhile that doesn’t earn one a quick
footnote on Wikipedia? The easy answer is parenting, but it’s too easy.
Being supportive of one’s biological offspring isn’t noteworthy to me, any
more than eating when hungry is. You eat when you’re hungry, and you raise
your progeny to be successful–that’s nature. Like Chris Rock said, “That’s
what you’re supposed to do!”

So if those things don’t qualify, then what would? A few candidates:
building schools for the poor, writing a popular book, being a successful
artist, inventing a cure for a disease, being the first person to space in a
homemade craft, or having a small radio show that touches people’s lives.

Again, the bar is very low. The standard is to make a ripple. To
produce something. To affect the world in some positive way other
than “He provided for his children.”, or, “She was nice to his friends.”

Quite simply, if you’re not working on something worthy of a Wikipedia
entry, and you have no plans to, then what are you doing? TV shows,
office cubes, paychecks, a couple of laughs, and then an eternity of
silence.

Don’t be that. Be as least worthy of a Wikipedia entry.

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