Recently I was out for an early morning hike on a mountain filled with sagebrush.
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The top of the small mountain wasn’t overwhelming, yet I had a bit of a climb ahead of me. The trick was navigating around the sagebrush, as there was no set trail.
The sagebrush of the Rocky Mountains is thick, has ticks, and can scratch up your legs good, so you have to find a way around it.
The top of the mountain was in sight, but at times I’d have to move sideways for quite a while before being able to actually move upward towards the top of the mountain.
That is what life is like in regards to finding your dream life.
There is no direct path, and perhaps the trial and error of life is all part of the beautiful journey, yet we all want to create something that we feel deeply good about.
I’d like to offer 1 very important question that has helped me to steer in the right direction. This powerful question has often helped me to get back on course and evaluate my life.
“If I could only pick 1 thing that I love to do for the rest of my life-1 thing, what would that be, and how could I earn a living around that?”
This question is not easy-though it is a simple question.
Why is it so difficult? I think perhaps because what we love to do can change.
Hence why I believe it is so important for people in their 20’s to “taste” a lot of different things.
How do you know you don’t like something if you haven’t tasted it yet?
Because this question is so challenging, let me help open it up just a little bit more.
Imagine yourself standing in front of the mirror. You ask the question:
“Self, what do you love to do more than anything else?!”
You answer to yourself,
“Skiing.”
Then enters your little voice of doubt and reason. “But how are you going to earn a living skiing?”
Ah, this is the part where you need to OPEN your mind instead of close it. Look, there are many ways to make a living skiing.
Maybe you are in your late 40’s and you know you can’t be a professional ski racer or something like that, but what could you do in the ski industry?
You could start a ski shop. You could start a skiing blog around travel and offer ski travel packages. You could be a guide. You could teach skiing to kids. You could start a ski shuttle.
You could start your own ski line, or ski apparel business. The options go on, and on, and on. You can do this with just about anything you love.
Do you know what happens when you ask this question and your brain begins to seek answers?
Passion. Yep, it wakes up. You get excited again. You leap over obstacles. People feel your passion. You do what it takes.
You find the energy to stay up for 5 extra hours after your regular job to find influencers on social media that can assist you.
You create the website content. You feel excited again about Mondays. And you find a way.
You may or may not build a million dollar empire around this passion, and that’s ok. But maybe you build a nice living from it, have your time, and genuinely enjoy doing what you are doing. Isn’t that alone worth it?
It feels so good to know that you are on course with this goal.
Perhaps there are some stepping stones to getting there, and perhaps you have to keep your 9-5 job for another 18 months until you can leave full time in pursuit, but stay the course.
Answer the question. Re-evaluate if you must because sometimes our passions change.
This one question has been the most liberating question for me, and I know it can be for you as well.
Now go get it.
