Saturday 21st October 2023

Dear William, 

You didn’t like your night nurse last night and you weren’t shy about it. I’ve got a feeling she won’t be back. 

Maricel, your normal night nurse, needed a night off after working three weeks straight. Can’t blame her. As you can tell from the fact that you have a night nurse, your mother and I have spared no expense in making sure you have the best care. We’re new parents and we don’t know how to do it all. Your Mom knows how to do more than me, though, and we’ve got people to help bridge the gaps. 

You didn’t like it, but you got through the night unscathed. Perhaps even better off because of it. 

This leads me to an important lesson that will separate you and make you stand out among all those around you. If you’re ever looking for a leg up, the secret is this: Do hard things.

Do hard things. Do hard things. Do hard things. 

As humans, we’re conditioned for comfort. Especially in this age of technology which is certain to be more advanced as you get older. People shy away from challenges. They seek mediocrity. 

Don’t do that. 

Go after what others won’t. Even if you ‘fail’, it’s only a temporary setback. Keep going, trying, iterating. You’ll succeed at the things other people don’t dare attempt. 

Then, they’ll stand around wondering how you did it. (They’ll also talk shit out of jealousy and fear, but ignore it.) 

It took me a long time to learn this lesson, and you’d do well to grasp it earlier than I did. I went to this school called Regis High School in New York City. It’s one of the best schools in America. When I visited it before I got in, one of the priests told us not to seek mediocrity. So, when I got in and graduated four years later, I thought I’d defeated mediocrity like the end boss on a video game. 

Thought I’d defeated mediocrity at 17 years old. 

Spoiler alert: I didn’t. I spent the next 20 years learning that. Many times, many times, I learned that lesson the hard way. Sure, I did well in some aspects of life (and not so well in others) but I could have done so much better if I didn’t settle. If I didn’t take the path of least resistance. 

Don’t settle for mediocrity, William. 

(But, I agree, that substitute nurse sucked.) 

Love, 

Dad