How to make a name for yourself

My Secret Notebook
2 min readNov 25, 2022

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After reading about the divine rebuke on mankind for trying to make a name for themselves via Tower of Babel and unsatisfactory google results for this question, I decided I’ll just free write my own response.

But first, why do I even care about making a name for myself? Well, besides my capricornian instincts (if real at all), at the end of the day, everything seems so meaningless in the grand scheme, right? Even if you have an impressive resume and family line/children, 1000 years from now. Actually, even just 100 years from now, will anyone even remember you? What will have been the point of working hard for any of these things?

I don’t even remember a lot of things in my own life, like even big emotional things in my childhood, I can’t and don’t remember them all.

I only have one shot at life and I’m afraid it’s slipping through my fingers so quickly — in many ways it is!

So, what can I even do that will actually make an impact?

Here are some ideas:

  1. Art — if I just do some really crazy stuff, maybe I can make it in art? lol. actually, i don't think I have the grit to make that much art.
  2. Politics — even local politics isn’t that memorable. Do you even know who your mayor is right now? And the national ones require a lot of money, influence, etc. With no guarantee.
  3. Breakthrough products — again, a lot of time/money for little chance??

At the end of the day, I’m tempted to just do whatever the fuck I feel like — just whatever makes me happy and disregard what otheres think, because it all just won’t matter lol.

Like, I don’t want to be notorious for being evil of course (ie. shooters, murders, aka Dahmer), which is like a cheat way of being famously bad.

But maybe I can do something crazy to be famously good. Lol, like Mr. Beast situation?? Well, I don’t have the funds for that lol. And I don’t actually care that much about that.

But what are some causes I do care about?

  1. Opportunity for underprivileged children
  2. Education
  3. Freedoms
  4. Access to explore creativities

Eh, these are too open ended and unfocused.

idk! I just don’t really feel like doing anything lol. and every endeavor eventually dies before it makes a big enough impact or, tbh, money.

I think the answer for now is to keep exploring the random ideas I get and see what sticks. And if nothing sticks, then that’s life!! Who cares if we even make a name for ourselves, our solar system is getting sucked into a black hole eventually.

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My Secret Notebook

Quirky, curious, and philosophical Asian American gay Ivy League grad living in Southern California.