2025-08-18
An essay on trying.
Nothing is a million miles away.
Everything in life is attainable, no matter how far away it may seem. What often looks distant, is closer than you think.
Not just closer, but close.
This is the far away fallacy, a costly mistake in reasoning.
As a reminder to myself, I think of my car’s rear view mirrors which have inscribed upon them: “Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear.”
I have marinated this thought for a few years now, and seen it echo in reality many times since. It is one of those things that once you hear and understand them, you see them everywhere.
It first came to me when I heard famous comedian Bill Burr being interviewed by Tim Ferriss. Speaking about his early days, when considering comedy, he said:
“ […] back then it was a zillion miles away. It was a zillion miles away. Even thinking about becoming a comedian, I thought you had to move to Hollywood to do it. I had no idea. Yeah. There was like three channels. You had no idea.”
Most people think this way. You have no idea.
Yet stories like Bill’s are everywhere. People who once thought what they wanted was incredibly far away. Athletes who grew up idolizing other athletes and eventually ended up competing with them. Or against them. Beating them. Surpassing their records.
Right now, if I were to think of becoming a comedian, I would think it’s impossible. It isn’t. Becoming a successful comedian, that is another story.
But to be successful doing something you must first do something.
Another interesting story I read recently, was that of actress Arsema Thomas. She was the lead in a play in my neighbourhood theatre, and the booklet read: “Arsema Thomas, star of Netflix’s hit Bridgerton spin-off Queen Charlotte, makes her stage debut […]”
Her name did not sound familiar and, out of curiosity, I looked her up.
Arsema has a Bachelor’s in Biophysics from Carnegie Mellon University. She then received her Master’s of Public Health at Yale University. Both admirable accolades in their own right.
But, after her father passed away, she decided to try acting. She took lessons in Paris and London. Lo and behold, she is now a famous actress.
This is not to say it is easy. It isn’t. But only to stress that things are not as far off as we make them.
The world is covered by a thin layer of inertia and it is only those who make the effort to peel it, who care to look, that figure it out.
If you want to be, say, a writer, you only need to peel that layer. Look. An entire world lies behind it, at your grasp. Read Andy Weir’s story. Or hundreds of other famous writers who made something out of nothing.
A photographer. An athlete. A musician. A diver. A florist. A veterinarian. An entrepreneur. You name it.
It’s all close, if you care to look and take the first step.
There’s luck involved, but some people obliterate it while others nurture it.
And the difference between those who see it and those who don’t, is simply that the latter think of it as unattainable.
A million miles away. Too far off to even try.
Trust me, it isn’t.
The world belongs to those who realize you can just do things.