Chill Life

I’m 21, an entrepreneur doing everything the best way I know how. With the knowledge and experience I’ve gathered over 21 years, I move through every part of my day using the strongest judgment I currently have. I think carefully before I act—even on the small things that seem insignificant.

In this knowledge-driven world, almost everyone feels unsure. I feel it too. No one knows most things with complete certainty, and like most young adults figuring out life, I constantly question myself. What sets me apart is the self-awareness to admit I don’t know, paired with a relentless drive to keep learning and become great.

I don’t chase material things, though they’re nice. Above everything, I want freedom. Not the kind that looks the same for everyone, but the freedom of life itself: the ability to choose what I want, provide fully for my future wife and children, answer to no one, and refuse to settle into a routine that is just tolerable enough to ignore. Every day I work to get closer to that freedom so I can give my family both security and guidance.

I watch so many people my age (and older) trade real growth for dopamine. They reach for the phone, scroll Instagram, and choose whatever is easy and convenient instead of reading, thinking deeply, or building a strong identity. They’re afraid of standing out, so they try to fit in next to the people they see online.

Why don’t more people understand how important it is to be true to yourself above all else? I am 100% authentically me. I go out of my way to be myself because I refuse to live under surface-level judgment. It might sting in the moment when a girl doesn’t like me or a guy acts superior, but it would feel far worse to wake up every day wearing a hazy mask I can only take off around one or two people, if I’m lucky.

Most people put on a front just to be liked in the shallowest way. If you’re just another smudge on the wall, no one will remember your name for more than a few seconds. But if you become your own carefully crafted painting, it doesn’t matter whether anyone stops to stare. What matters is waking up each morning, drinking your coffee, looking at that painting, and feeling genuine joy that it is authentically you.