Find Your Path

Below is an excerpt from 10 Essential Steps to Create a Life You Love, and if you enjoy this portion and would like to read the rest of this guide, you can simply subscribe to our email list and it will be sent to you!

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People will try to guide you toward a path they may want for you, and it may even come from a place of love and good intentions, but you must have the strength and fortitude to make the best decision for you.

You have the ultimate say in how you decide to live your life. You may take a path foreign and misunderstood to others, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong, or that it will be the wrong choice for you.

Ten years ago, I graduated with a bachelor’s degree and no clear path.  Everyone told me that piece of paper was going to help me get places in life.  What became apparent in the years that followed is that a fancy piece of paper is not required to have value, in the same fashion we don’t need to accumulate material items to project our success.  You possess inherent value just as you are, and nothing can take that away from you.

I struggled significantly post-college, moving from job to job, mindlessly passing the time, as deep fears perpetually stirred within—a fear of pursuing a path I truly wanted.

I’ve been creative since I was a child, creating movies and writing stories.  Today I’m finally doing those things I’ve always wanted to do, and I didn’t need a degree or anyone’s permission to do it.

You can be successful simply by avoiding the all too typical follies of modern society—debt, sedentary lifestyles, along with the negativity and self-doubt that tends to imprison us from within.

We are taught from a young age what we are supposed to do—get an education, a good-paying job, a beautiful home to fill with all of the stuff we were told to buy, and work our hearts out until we retire.

We were told these things would help us create a life we love. But this wasn’t the case at all.  Instead of the fairy-tale we were promised, we got screwed. We ended up with thousands in student loan debt, jobs we’re underqualified for, rent and mortgages we can’t afford, and homes full of all the things we were told to buy—things that only leave us feeling empty inside.

We’re forced to work so hard for things we don’t need and spend endless hours working to pay for those things, that by the time we realize we don’t need or want them, comes the realization we haven’t lived the life we truly wanted.

We waste so much time chasing these false dreams that we forget to pursue a life we want—one we’re passionate about. I believe we only find success when we actively pursue everything that lights us up and makes us feel alive.

In pursuit of this path, we mustn’t tie our whole identity or self-worth into any singular goal.  A good example of this is the recent pattern of NFL players who decided to retire early and maintain their health, sacrificing hundreds of millions in future earnings. For their entire lives, they’d identified as football players, until the moment they no longer had the desire to compete. When your heart is no longer invested and find yourself drawn to other pursuits, you cannot blindly continue moving forward in that direction.  People may not understand or respect your decisions, but they don’t have to, and you don’t owe them anything.

We are all scientists in a sense, constantly trying new things and testing our limits.  Things change, we evolve, and what was once thought to be the right path could lead to another path even better.  Always be ready and prepared to pivot from a previous belief, goal, or position when new information presents itself or better opportunities arise.

While there isn’t a black and white set of rules explaining how to be successful or live your best life, there is one thought to keep in the back of your mind:

You will never create a life you love by settling for the one you don’t.

You will create a life you love by doing, growing, and constantly searching for “your thing” until you find it. I encourage you to be relentless in search of your thing—whatever niche that may be.  And when you find it—embrace it.

Unapologetically do what you love and figure out a way to mold your life around it. It won’t be easy, but you will be paving your path, one uniquely defined by you. Live a life you can proudly reminisce upon in your final years, knowing you never settled for ordinary, embraced your passions, and created a life you truly loved.

Find your path and live a life of freedom the naysayers could only dream of.