A friend recently replied to my advice on sleeping 9–10 hours to beat fatigue and crankiness,
“Tell this to my kids.”
It made me pause and think.
Our choices create responsibilities. And our responsibilities, in turn, create constraints.
But is that a bad thing?
I’ve always loved the phrase, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
It reminds me that when we choose to lead - a team, a family, a company - we’re not just signing up for impact. We’re choosing to carry weight. We’re saying yes to sleepless nights, tough conversations, hard choices. We’re trading comfort for meaning.
The more we succeed, the more responsibility we inherit.
And often, the less freedom we have in the moment, ironically, all in pursuit of the ultimate freedom: shaping our own narrative, our own future.
I just finished “10,000 Hours of Play: Unlock Real-Life Legendary Success” by gamification pioneer Yu-Kai Chou. The book is a call to arms,
Live like a superhero🦸
Define your mission.
Discover your “superpowers” (your character strengths).
Gear up with the tools and skills you need to take on your quests.
Slay some dragons.
Make allies to take on bigger quests.
It's a how-to for doing something that matters with your life.
But Yu-Kai also offers a quiet truth we often miss in the hype of heroism, pursuit of goals or leadership.
A legendary life isn’t just built on power-ups, wins, and mastery.
It’s built on responsibility.
Living life as a superhero isn’t just about what you get to do.
It’s also about what you must do as a result of your choices.
Here’s a great question to help you choose the right path with no regret (even with all the sleepless nights and hard work that you "have to" do now),
Have you accepted the responsibilities that come with the path you’ve chosen?
PS: “10,000 Hours of Play” is a brilliant guide if you’re piecing together what’s missing in your own legendary life to feel like a superhero, not a side character.
We also dove into this on the latest Change Wired podcast episode with Yu-Kai Chou - tune in to learn how to activate your success superpowers and design a life that feels like an adventure.
