Stop Waiting to Be Picked

Remember what it felt like waiting to be picked for dodge ball or basketball in elementary school? I somehow managed to always be picked in the middle of the pack. Not first, not last, but right in the middle. The wait to be picked was always agonizing, because I never wanted to be picked last. My hope was that Jeremy Robinson had forgotten that I missed the last shot in the previous game we played. If he had forgotten, then I had a chance to be picked for his team. (He was big, mean, and the class bully. Nobody wanted to be on his bad side.)

But this scenario looked much different for those who were really athletic. If you were athletic, then people always fought over who would get to pick you first for their team. I’ve always wondered what happened to all those people who were picked first. Did they go off and become successful, because they were picked by other people, even into their careers? And what about the people who were picked last? Are they still being picked last, today?

You see, I’ve always disliked having to be chosen to do something. I didn’t like having to be picked to be on someone’s team, I didn’t like needing to be picked for a job, and I didn’t like needing to be picked by a publisher before being told that I could be published. But the good news is that there is an answer. The answer that I chose in all of these scenarios is to avoid being picked, and the option is available to you, as well. If you don’t want to be picked to be on someone’s team, you can always find a new game. If you don’t want to be picked for a job, you can always start a new business. And if you are a writer and want to be published, the option of self-publishing is available. There’s always a way around being picked.

Now, I’m not saying that having some sort of authority in your life is a bad thing — that’s what mentors are for. And I’m also not saying that we shouldn’t all get along with each other — that’s what working together on a team and having friends is for. But what I am saying is that many of the world’s most successful people didn’t wait for someone else to pick them, but instead they picked themselves.