Why stay low with your aims?

During our sessions of entrepreneurship training in highschools and postgraduate schools in Italy, in the last two years, Carla and I gave to our students an exercise on vision: they had to write what they imagine to do in their life in a typical day of 2035. Our students had to describe how could be their usual activities in that day, what kind of job they have, where they could live, if they have a family or not, and so on. They had to use their imagination to see theirselves in the future.

The replies of the boys and the girls attending our seminars were very different, while most of them specified that they would like to work in the field they are studying at the moment. But what striked us the most is the conscious lowering of the aims of these guys. For example, one of them wrote: “I hope to work few kilometres away from my home”. Another one said “I hope that the economic crisis let me find a job”.

We think that these thoughts are an effect of the continuos bombing of bad news that we are living at the moment in Italy. In a certain sense, we are experimenting a sense of crushing of our lives and this is particularly true among the youngest generations.

The crisis gave to our students a perfect alibi: we do nothing because the economic conditions don't let us doing something. It's all worthless. There's no excape from our conditions. So we put our aims at the lowest possible level, to avoid disappointments. We are afraid of the future.

Terrible, isn't it?

What we are trying to do with our training is to change the perception lens they use to watch the reality. Yes, we are currently living a strong and long economic crisis. But behind every great economic boom there is a previous downturn. This is the moment to start seeing opportunities where others just see problems. This is the time to adopt and train the entrepreneurial attitudes. To start the game. To put ourselves to the test. Yes, it will not be all roses. There will be difficulties and obstacles to overcome. But... what is the alternative? To keep still and complain? This is the perfect recipe for failure. For something that isn't really life.

We live in exponential times, with incredible tools to communicate, to exchange ideas, to build relationships with people all over the world. This is the perfect moment to keep high our aims and work hard to reach them. Or to arrive nearby them as much as possible. And even if we will not succeed, it's worth it. We will have learnt something. We will have lived. Because we are alive, not zombies!