You Are Ready: Your Age is Not a Barrier to Greatness

There is a Lie that adults sometimes tell children. Usually, they don't mean to lie. They think they are being helpful.

The Lie is: "You can do great things... when you are older."

"Wait until you finish school." "Wait until you get a degree." "Wait until you have a job." "Wait until you have experience."

Wait. Wait. Wait.

But here is the Truth: You don't have to wait.

The Young Builders

History is full of proof that young people can change the world. In fact, some of the most important things in history were done by people who couldn't even drive a car yet.

Mozart: He was writing beautiful symphonies when he was 5 years old. He didn't wait to grow a beard to be a musician.
Anne Frank: She wrote a diary when she was 13 that has taught millions of people about humanity, courage, and hope during the darkest times.
Boyan Slat: He was a teenager when he went diving and saw too much plastic. He drew a picture on a napkin of a machine to clean the oceans. Everyone said it was impossible. Now he runs The Ocean Cleanup, a giant organization that is actually doing it.
Louis Braille: He blinded himself by accident when he was young. Instead of giving up, he invented the Braille reading system for the blind when he was just 15! He opened the world of books to millions of people.

They didn't wait for permission. They saw a problem, or felt a song inside them, and they let it out.

Your Superpower is NOW

In fact, being young is a superpower.

Adults sometimes know too much about what is "impossible." We have tried and failed so many times that we get cautious. We say, "That won't work."

But you? You don't know it's impossible. So you try it anyway. And sometimes, because you tried, it works.

You have energy. You have imagination. You have fresh eyes that see the world differently than we do.

Start Small, Start Today

You don't have to cure a disease today. You just have to start.

Write the first page of your comic book.
Code a simple "Hello World" website.
Help a neighbor carry their groceries.
Draw a picture of your invention.
Start a club at school.

The world needs your voice. It needs your ideas. It needs your kindness.

If you wait until you are "ready," you will wait forever. No one ever truly feels ready. Even adults are just figuring it out as they go along.

So please, don't listen to the Lie. Don't wait for the future.

The future is built by what you do today. You are ready.

The Young Builders

History is full of proof that young people can change the world. In fact, some of the most important things in history were done by people who couldn't even drive a car yet.

Mozart: He was writing beautiful symphonies when he was 5 years old. He didn't wait to grow a beard to be a musician.

Anne Frank: She wrote a diary when she was 13 that has taught millions of people about humanity, courage, and hope during the darkest times.

Boyan Slat: He was a teenager when he went diving and saw too much plastic. He drew a picture on a napkin of a machine to clean the oceans. Everyone said it was impossible. Now he runs The Ocean Cleanup, a giant organization that is actually doing it.

Louis Braille: He blinded himself by accident when he was young. Instead of giving up, he invented the Braille reading system for the blind when he was just 15! He opened the world of books to millions of people.