STOP MAKING PLANS AND JUST GO WITH THE FLOW
Stephen Fry is a clever man. We all know that. We saw him on QI explaining things for years until he quit in 2015. Now he’s been tempted back to telly presenting by Jeopardy! – a quiz that’s a TV institution in the US, where it’s run since the 60s, and of which he’s a ‘huge’ fan.
‘All British quizzers who take the pastime seriously regard Jeopardy! as the pinnacle of quiz shows,’ he says, reminding us that his role is to provide the answer and the contestant must form the correct question in order to gain the points.
So having landed a job he simply couldn’t refuse, hosting the UK version of a show he admires, he was asked by an interviewer if he has any goals left in life.
This sparked an interesting response. ‘Targets and goals are, in my view, utterly pernicious,’ he declared. ‘All those grotesque and useless life-coaching and self-help books that take up more than half of bookshops these days – they all force people to think in terms of goal orientation and steps towards targets. I think that just about always leads to disappointment, frustration and despair.’
He makes a great point. When trying out new stuff, perhaps we should just see where it goes, rather than setting rigid end-points that inevitably set us up for failure.
In his case he’s extremely happy with his latest gig and isn’t about to start making a bucket list of extra challenges. How refreshing if people could stop making five-year plans when it comes to careers, or fretting over not being ‘where I should be’ in terms of romance, work, starting families or anything else. Where is that, exactly? Half the time we were never going to get there anyway and even if we did, it wouldn’t make us feel the way we’re hoping. Why be always driving towards something that’s out of reach, possibly causing yourself much misery along the way?
Follow your dreams, everyone says. Well, fine – to a point. The trick is to know when the dream is about to become a nightmare. And remember what that clever Stephen Fry said.