Pharrell Williams says the American dream isn’t about money—it’s about doing something you love instead of ‘settling for the next best thing’
Americans are losing sight of what their national dream is actually about, according to Grammy award-winning artist and philanthropist Pharrell Williams.
Speaking on stage at Web Summit in Lisbon this week, the “Happy“ singer said society should focus less on monetary success and more on career fulfillment.
Williams’ words come as American society is becoming increasingly disenfranchised with the notion of the ‘American Dream.’ The likes of JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says it is disappearing, while Pew Research found 47% of Americans believe the dream is no longer possible or never existed to begin with.
“In my country we are raised to think about how to make the most money because our parents thought that way,” Williams, a Virginia Beach native said. “They had this false sense of what the American dream is or should be.
“The American dream is not about making the most money. In fact, the human dream and the consumers’ dream shouldn’t be about making the most money.
“It should be about spending the most time doing something that you love.”
A now infamous YouGov survey conducted in 2021 asked nearly 3,700 American teenagers what they wanted to be when they grew up. Their top response was a vlogger, YouTuber or professional streamer.
This was followed by a doctor or nurse, a professional athlete, musician, actor, or entrepreneur.
Such preferences are at odds with what their parents might wish, Williams pointed out.
“Your parents told you they wanted you to be a doctor, they wanted to be a lawyer,” he explained. “Some of you did it and it’s cool.
“But then some of you go to college and as you’re taking that major you find out ‘You know what, I know my mom and dad have spent all this money and they’re gonna be really pissed but I’m changing my major.’ And you are happy.
“That’s not what happens to the vast majority. The vast majority, they go after it and they don’t get it. And then they end up working somewhere they hate because it’s the next best thing financially.”
Charity work
The man estimated to be worth $250 million has risen to fame thanks not only to his work in the entertainment industry but also his two charities: Yellow and Black Ambition.
The first is an education initiative aimed at increasing equality between school children, the second a non-profit working to decrease the wealth inequality gap through supporting entrepreneurship.
“If you think about something that you love so much, that if you could snap your fingers right now and you’d never make any money but all your bills were paid—would you do it?” Williams asked.
The producer and fashion designer added that dream jobs aren’t necessarily the exact job you dream of.
He explained that—for example—if a person’s ideal job was a professional footballer but the individual wasn’t suited to it, they could still be fulfilled working as a coach, camera man, someone in the production team, a team coach driver, and so on.
“If you can find a vocation around something that you love, you now have a dream job. You will be the first one there and you’ll be the last one to leave,” Williams added.
“To me, that is what we should be telling our children—that is the way that we should be leading society—for people to do what they love.”
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