If I knew then what I know now (part 1)

I recently polled about 100 people and asked them a simple and basic question.  The question was “What is one thing you know now, that you wished you knew when you graduated high school?”   The answers I received were across the board, but many of the answers revolved around a common subject.  I will be writing on this subject and others more in the coming days and weeks.  However, one of the answers I received is one that is on my mind a lot lately as well.  Due to some recent tragedies in my own life this particular response really hit home with me as well.

Many of us go through life doing what we think we should do.  That is going to school, working hard, saving some money, raising a family, invest what we can, contribute to a 401k, and retire one day.  If the previous sentence didn’t bore you to death and make you want to cry, then maybe you should stop reading now, because you wont like the remaining part of this post.

So the response to the question I asked was this: I wish I would have known that hard-working aggressive people can do anything they want.  Including pursuing careers, which includes making money, because if you are not making money, it is really just a hobby.  But that is the point.  How do I do what I am extremely passionate about and monetize it now?  The answer or response to that statement is this.  It isn’t too late to do and become anything you want to be.

It is harder to pursue certain things the more complicated our lives get, that is a fact.  If you have a mortgage, debt, children, etc. you can’t just quit what you are doing now, and go and work at the local YMCA and make minimum wage.  However, you can start to work on things outside the normal day-to-day job activities to start pursuing opportunities and creating opportunities in the areas you want to work in. Is this hard to do?  Absolutely it is.  But anything different should and will be.

If it wasn’t difficult we would have already been doing it and accomplished whatever it is we want to accomplish.  The goal should be to start now.  Why do you want to put off your future to the future when there is no guarantee of a future?  Sounds morbid I guess, but it is true.  We don’t have any guarantees.  Sure, should we be wise and prepare for our future? Yes, especially our health and our finances.  But we shouldn’t delay our pursuit of our passions to the future when we have all the time we know we have right now.

What are you going to do today to get you closer to that dream job or dream life?

To your success and your future.