This post is dedicated to my little sister on her 25th birthday. Hanna, I hope your path is full of happiness and fulfillment and that no matter what, you never unlearn how to dream big.
There’s something about growing up where it seems that we’re often taught that we should figure out how to be right over learning what it means to be true. We tuck away our quirks and contain our curiosity. We mold our lives to fit with conventional notions of success. We get on path, or at least we do our best to appear to be on track. We concede to our circumstances, even if we’re not sure what we want. Slowly we stop exploring.
For many, myself included, this way of life is simply not an option. Something deep inside of us fights against it like it’s an act of survival. The alternative is to figure out how to be true and create our own paths. This requires a creative, generative orientation towards the world. It involves continuous learning and growth. It entails a different approach to work and life that I deeply believe is both possible and necessary.
The following list includes 12 lessons from my own journey. It reflects a selection of approaches and perspectives on how to create your own path.
1. Change is a question, not an answer.
For a long time I thought that if I just worked harder, I’d find that perfect job. Or maybe if I collected a few more credentials, then the answer would appear. I eventually came to understand how misguided this was. I stopped wasting time on writing cover letters for jobs that I didn’t want. Instead I started to think about my interests and goals more like a set of questions and experiments. This approach inspired me to try new things and start new projects. It led me to take action before I had an answer. Ultimately it invited change into my life in ways that were much more interesting and impactful than anything that would have come out of simply making a plan. (more…)