A Beautiful, Ordinary Life

You Don’t Need to be a "Visionary" to be Valid

​We live in the era of the "Titan." Our news feeds are dominated by a handful of names; the Musks, the Trumps, the Altmans, the "disruptors" who claim to be carving the future out of stone with nothing but their own sheer will. We are told that if we aren't "innovating," "scaling," or "changing the world," we are somehow settling for a life that is "less than."

​But if you look closer, the logic and reality of the "self-made genius" starts to crumble. When you pull back the curtain on the charlatans and the icons alike, you find a much deeper, more liberating truth: Greatness is always a combination of gift, luck and timing. Now, the ordinary life, well that is a choice, and sometimes just what is leftover, but in the end a dignified one at that. Allow me to explain;

​1. The Myth of the "Self-Made"

​We often treat success as a moral scoreboard. We assume that because Einstein was Einstein, he "earned" his brain. We assume that because a billionaire has a mountain of gold, he "earned" every coin through superior grit.

​But as the philosopher Thomas Nagel pointed out, we are all victims and beneficiaries of Moral Luck. What the hell do you mean by that?

​What it means is that Einstein didn't "build" his parietal lobe; he was born with a brain that visualized physics like a playground. Messi didn’t "choose" his low center of gravity or his freakish neuromuscular reflexes; they were given to him. Even the capacity to work eighteen hours a day is often a result of something titled Constitutive Luck; a specific cocktail of brain chemistry and upbringing that makes obsession feel like breathing.

Let me point out (again) that some readers might argue that "effort" is the one thing we do control. However, research has shown that even the capacity for high effort is often a product of brain chemistry and a stable upbringing.

And all of that does not make you better. So calm down all of you that feel superior. Just keep it in your pants Mr. Alpha man. Because when we realize that "genius" is a lottery win, the "Charlatan" loses his power. The person who brags about their brilliance is like a lottery winner bragging about their "strategy" for picking numbers. It’s an illusion. And I have heard them. Oh yeah, they say, I have a number picking strategy.

​2. Exposing the Charlatans

And there is another group of modern humans, what I like to call modern "Visionaries." These people love to take credit for the labor of thousands, claiming themselves - to make it seem and sound like they did it - and allowing many others to support those claims that they "built" rockets or "saved" industries. They want us to believe they are a different species of human so that we feel justified in giving them all the power.

But as recent investigative work (like the book Lucky Loser) has shown, many of these figures are simply masters of the "brand." They inherited fortunes, were bailed out by luck, and used the media to create a fable of brilliance. They aren't "building" the future; they are colonizing the narrative of the present.

​The most abhorrent part of this myth is that it demands we trade in our own dignity to worship theirs. They want us to believe that "normal" work - the kind done with the hands, the heart, and the steady presence of an ordinary human - is meaningless, almost obsolete.

​3. The Dignity of the "Ordinary"

But here is the truth that I like to follow. The one truth led by the 99% of us humans, and that is ´​There is a profound, quiet excellence in a life lived well but simply.´

​The "Sublime Ordinary" has been, in modern times, mischaracterized.  We’ve been told that being a good neighbor, a reliable parent, a skilled craftsman, or a kind friend isn't "enough." We are pressured to "optimize" our hobbies and "monetize" our downtime.

​But think about the "Dignity of Work" that is currently under threat. A machine might be able to generate a paragraph or move a box, but it cannot inhabit the work. It cannot feel the satisfaction of a clean room, the warmth of a shared meal, or the pride of an honest day’s labor.

​The "Charlatans" want to automate your agency because they want you to be a spectator. They want you to watch their movies, use their AI, and live in their digital worlds. But when you choose to focus on a simple, "normal" life, you are performing a radical act of resistance. You are saying: "My meaning is not for sale, and it doesn't require a global platform to be real."

​4. Reclaiming the Baseline

​If we accept that the "titans" of the world are mostly just lucky recipients of a specific set of circumstances, the pressure to "be special" vanishes.

​You aren't a "failure" for not being a billionaire or a world-renowned genius. You are a biological success for simply existing, for finding joy in a cup of coffee, for caring for the people around you, and for doing work that has a human face.

The "Normal Life" we have arrived at after thousands of years of human tolling isn't a consolation prize. It is the original masterpiece. It is the only state of being that is truly honest, because it doesn't require the lie of "superiority" to sustain itself.

The Conclusion: The Freedom of Gratitude

The Charlatans are trapped. Because they believe they "earned" everything, they live in constant fear of losing it. They can never just be. They must always be more, do more, and own more.

You, however, can choose Gratitude. You can recognize that whatever talents or joys you have were "given" to you by the same universe that gave Einstein his equations. You can take that gift and use it to build a small, beautiful, simple life.

In a world obsessed with being "extraordinary," the most courageous thing you can be is Ordinary. And there is immense dignity in that.

And so, when the world tries to sell you anxiety, when it whispers that you are not enough, not doing enough, not being enough… pause. Remember that you are not a problem waiting to be solved. You are a human being, gloriously complex and beautifully ordinary, living a life that matters simply because it is lived with presence and heart.

Be brave enough to be simple. Be bold enough to be kind. Be fierce enough to protect the quiet joys that make your days meaningful. Live your life with such steady, gentle presence that the frantic voices simply fade into background noise.

You are already enough, exactly as you are. You are already home. And that, that beautiful, ordinary, unrepeatable fact, is everything.

Thanks for reading. Abrazos.

Diego Rojas