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Get The Ball Rolling
The longer I live, the more I believe that the well beaten path rarely gets you to where you want to go.
Might be obvious, but our decision making and courage play a huge role in our careers and livelihoods. It was a recurring theme in conversations I had this week:
- one with a relative stuck in a tough personal relationship,
- one with an old co-worker I had reconnected with that told me about their (unapologetic) year-long work sabbatical,
- one with a friend making a shift in their career journey.
By the end of the week three things were obvious to me:
- Because we all write our own path, very rarely are any two paths ever the same.
- Seeing others achieve your dreams is inspiring, but not fully motivating.
- Without action there is no change, and no dream is achieved.
All three of the people I spoke with this week either made unconventional, difficult or unexpected decisions to get closer to where they want to be.
The good news is that even if they aren’t on a straight path, the ball is rolling and they are the ones pushing it. It’s a reminder that we all have the power to make change in our lives.
The bad news is that a straight path is hard to find (if it exists).
Where’s The Instruction Manual?
It’s easy to forget, we are the authors of our own lives.
There are no instruction manuals.
Sure, we can look to family and friends for examples, but there is more opportunity in the world than that.
Which is why I share examples of companies and people changing the way we work in this newsletter. Seeing is believing.
Ultimately though, our stories are written by the decisions and actions that we take.
Especially when it comes to work, careers and making money.
James Clear, famed author of Atomic Habits, put it this way:
“Each individual wants to make their own dreams a reality.
It's nice to have a little help, but we often resent when someone else tries to do it all for us. If someone hands you the whole thing on a silver platter, they gift you the result, but rob you of the accomplishment.”
He ended his thought with this:
“Remember this not only when chasing your dreams, but also when supporting others. Help along the way, but let them run their own race. Your job is to live life with them, not live their life for them."
Do you agree?