You Must Do The Thing Before You Can Be The Thing You Desire
Epictetus’ warning about quick fame and becoming an internet celebrity
A recent YouGov opinion poll shows that the top dream job of the average American teenager is a “professional streamer.” It beats out doctor, nurse, musician, actor, and professional athlete. Don’t even bother asking about scientist, lawyer, veterinarian, or astronaut; they’re barely represented.
It might be obvious to you, but Jennifer Liu at CNBC, interviewed lots of polling companies to find out why professional streamer is a top choice.
Over half of Gen Z thought a social media “influencer a reputable career choice.”
About 60% would happily become an influencer if given the opportunity.
The low-tech and direct to net feeds of TikTok has made many think it’s an easy, well-paid career, with freedom.
But everything isn’t always as it seems. Beth Ann Mayer at Parents Magazine says many influencers are dependent on corporate advertising budgets, which may shrink at any time. Plus, social media has its share of mental health issues related to it.
Not to mention the list of child celebrities who suffered from early fame. Drug addiction, depression, losing fortunes, and chaotic lives seem to plague childhood stars.
But in my opinion, the biggest trouble with the influencer desire is the idea of its easiness. But this isn’t new to our time. There’s always a universal appeal for the easy path, and this stretches back to antiquity.
Although as Mayer mentions above, easy often looks easier than it actually is. Namely, it usually hides difficulties you can’t see.
In How To Be Content, Steven Harrison says the ancient Roman poet Horace often discussed a Greek word “mempsimoiria.” It means unhappiness with one’s lot in life, and desire for another’s.
In Horace’s time, people wanted a successful life in glittering Rome but had no idea of the chaos and struggle which came with it. From personal experience, he believed a quiet life in the country was better. So, there were hidden tradeoffs in the glamor.
The Stoic philosopher Epictetus believed the same thing. Namely, you must do the thing, before you can be the thing you desire, and this doesn’t come for free. A trade is necessary.
The Hidden Trade For The Thing You Desire
“…This is the price one pays for not getting worked up — the price for tranquility. Nothing comes free of charge.”
— Epictetus, the Enchiridion, translated by Anthony Long
In Epictetus’ Enchiridion, he spends a good deal of time explaining that nothing you desire comes without a price. He says that Olympic athletes train relentlessly and submit themselves to their trainer. Hence sacrifices must be made.
Moreover, he also indicates few are prepared to make the trade. Many go through different costumes, like kids switching games. He eloquently says:
“If you don’t think first, you’ll be acting like children who play at wrestling for a while, then at being gladiators, then trumpeters, and then stage performers. That’s what you are like too…You’re like a monkey mimicking everything you see.”
Epictetus reminds us that when you see a celebrated person, “be careful never to be carried away by the impression and judge the person to be happy.” You don’t know what they’ve traded for the position they now occupy.
Also, don’t “expect to get an equal share of the things that are not up to us without doing the same things others have done.”
Often the easy celebrity life hides many challenges which are hard to see behind the film screen or webcam.
The Unseen Work Behind The Image
In his recent book Be Useful, Arnold Schwarzenegger mentions everything he did was much harder than it appeared. Bodybuilding took years to master, and in 1968 he lost Mr. Universe and came in second the next year in his first Mr. Olympia competition.
Arnold convinced his competitors to help him fix areas where he was lacking. He’d find himself working out twice each day to make up for deficiencies, instead of just a single trip to the gym. While doing this, he was also running a business as a bricklayer to pay bills.
When he started to regularly win competitions and announced he’d like to be an actor, everyone laughed at him due to his accent. Arnold used the money from his business and bodybuilding to take lots of acting lessons.
After getting a lucky break and eventually becoming an action star, he wanted to try his hand at comedy. Again, everyone laughed at him, and not in a comedic way. So, Arnold, Danny DeVito, and director Ivan Reitman offered to act and direct in their movie Twins for no money up front, only a percentage of the box office revenue. It grossed over $200 million.
Bruce Lee had the same problems. The person you see in the films he starred in was created with years of effort. In an interview in John Little’s book Bruce Lee: The Art of Expressing the Human Body, his wife Linda Lee Cadwell says:
“I know that millions of his fans are convinced that Bruce was born with a special body…Many of them simply do not believe it when I explain that Bruce built up his outstanding physique through sheer application and willpower; through intense training.”
Little says Bruce had to create his own training programs, because the only thing that was available at the time for material was muscle building magazines. The martial artist eventually designed a forerunner of circuit training, which kept him fast, flexible, and chiseled.
He also had to create his own martial art because it wasn’t available at the time.
While his movies portray high-flying kicks, according to Teri Tom in The Straight Lead, Bruce based his martial art Jeet Kune Do (JKD) on “economy of form” and “efficient mechanics.” It all started with footwork and a lead punch he learned from Olympic fencers and old school boxers.
Then, he had to create movies to star in because Hollywood wouldn’t have him as a leading man. So, he went to Hong Kong and made his own type of cinema genre. All this effort required thirty-two years.
So, nothing came easy for each of these legends despite their cool personas on film — just lots of work, time, and struggle. It gives us something to consider when we feel that mempsimoiria set in when we see what we think is an easy life.
Nothing Is Free And What Are You Willing To Trade
As a kid I always thought writing to be an easy thing since it was less taxing than doing physical labor. But that’s not the case. The professional authors we all read spent years working on their craft.
I’ve experienced this on a much smaller level.
So far, I spent over six years regularly writing now, and it’s one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. It’s staggering how much research gets put into articles that are only five to eight minutes long.
This doesn’t include all the reading I do which equates to nothing.
I believe this is what all the wannabe streamers and social media influencers miss. They see the aftereffect, not the trade made in time and struggle to get to the place these netizens have climbed to. There’s also no comprehension of the negatives either.
As Epictetus said so long ago, there’s always a tradeoff. You must do the thing before you can be the thing you desire, and this doesn’t come for free.
-Originally posted on Medium 2/13/24