personal limitations

Contemplating different ways of distracting myself from a night of Chinese grammer, I decided to check out www.wsj.com. After perusing the front page (no news regarding political unrest in Thailand, this is good), I happened upon an article entitled "Raising Bill Gates."

I cannot tell you that the article was riveting; however, one idea particularly struck me. "...no sense of personal limitations whatsoever." (This line was actually a reference to a mentor and friend of Bill Gates Sr. If you want to see how this is relevant, read the article yourself.) When Mother and Father Gates embraced this quality in their son, Bill Gates thrived.

Let's be real, most of us are a bit more of an Average Joe than a Bill Gates, but let's take a step back and imagine how a momentary lowering of our personal barriers would turn out. Let's start with me. For college, instead of asking myself "New York or Boston," I should have been thinking "the United States or Europe?"

For jobs, middle-class, politically liberal WASP children (I cannot speak for other racial or ethnical groups, although I suppose it is the same) grow up asking themselves if they want to become doctors, or nurses, or lawyers, or teachers. When confused, we ask for advice, and are often told to "do what you love." This sounds 3 parts cliche and 1 part completely impractical. I love watching Gossip Girl and shopping for dresses, but how is that going to pay the bills. Instead of thinking along the lines of personal limitations, I should be thinking "how can I couple my undying love of economics and inescapable urge to dress-shop into a future as a generally successful person?"

I am still figuring this one out. However, 3 months in Shanghai has helped me along the way. It has given me time to observe, learn, and think. If only the tinest crack, China has opened the world to me.