The question looms over our head even before we’re of the age and in position to answer it.
When we look to the guidance of those around us,
from our friends to our family to society at large,
there’s no shortage of opinions as to what’s best for us and for the quality of our future;
but at the end of the day,
it is only we who will have to live with the results of the direction chosen,
and in that,
the choice is ours and ours alone.
And what is this monumental uncertainty?
When the time inevitably comes,
should we follow our heart,
or should we follow the path of the higher paycheck and greater since of security?
When author Jay Shetty posed Simon Sinek this very question,
he answered, quite simply,
it depends.
Those who chase money first when they finish their education,
will obviously make more of it directly out of the gate.
They’re more likely to receive promotions early and often,
and their lifestyle will often increase at a parallel rate.
Alternatively,
their peers who choose to follow their hearts first,
or to at least seek that which their heart truly desires,
will most likely endure struggles that they never would’ve signed up for,
had they known from the beginning.
What’s more,
it may be several years before they’re able to reap any real fruit from their labors.
That said,
life is nothing if not a marathon without clear end.
Shortsightedness and impatience are qualities that are rarely rewarded with lasting success.
While those who first chase the almighty dollar are more likely to find it faster,
they are less likely to find that which they are not actively seeking,
namely meaning and purpose.
Consequently,
in time these individuals are often left unconsciously filling this void with other similarly immediate and short-term gratifications.
As the number on their biweekly check increases,
so does the price tag of their car, their wardrobe, their diet,
and the place they live.
The years turn into decades,
and as is the nature of a ladder,
the opportunities for elevation and advancement narrow.
In what seems like the blink of an eye,
they’ve gone from a young professional chasing the cheese,
to a disgruntled employee burnt out by the rat race,
with not much more to show for their efforts,
than financial and egotistical attachment to the very material lifestyle that they’ve created in the process.
As for the dreamers,
well, to quote Buck Knight from his memoir,
Shoe Dog,
"The cowards never started,
the weak died along the way;
and that leaves us."
Those that survive not only fight through failure,
they use their failure to springboard them to new heights.
They don’t just learn and adapt their approach to better ensure success in the future,
they grow and adapt their vision in the interest of creating an entirely new future.
A future they never could have seen clearly in their previous life,
back before living through the process of becoming who they were to become.
And when they too find themselves 10 years down the road,
though their journey won't have been easy,
it will have been well worth it.
For while their more conventional peers’ prospects have begun to narrow,
their own outlook offers no ceilings whatsoever.
Though in the beginning,
during the lean years of 60 hour weeks,
they certainly worked with passion and definiteness of purpose,
now that they’ve had time to hone their craft,
and are finally beginning to reap from which they‘ve sewn,
their work has taken on an entirely new state of flow.
For so long they toiled their lives away with little validation to show for it,
and now that they’re finally receiving a little compensation for their efforts,
it has only reignited their hunger to double down and keep pushing forward.
As their peers are hamstrung by their own dissatisfaction and disillusionment,
they are building momentum on the first strides of success.
The reality is:
there’s no one path that is right for all of us.
All the theory and philosophy in the world aren’t worth a damn,
when your heart of hearts is telling you to run in another direction.
My goal here isn’t necessarily to encourage you to choose one road over another,
but to remind you that its often the decisions that seem so clear cut and secure in the beginning,
that turn out to be anything but in the long run.
Playing it safe and playing it smart,
aren’t always the same thing.
As Henry Thoreau once wrote,
“I learned this, at least, by my experiment:
that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams,
and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined,
he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
Simply by choosing to pursue that which is in our heart with all of our heart,
we position ourselves to experience a satisfaction with life,
that most consider beyond the realm of reasonable expectation.
And if we can learn to adapt our approach and adjust our vision as time goes on,
we might just be amazed at how practically our dream manifests in the end.
So don’t be so quick to discard your inspiration as the fabrication of youthful fantasy,
as all that glitters is not gold,
and the trajectory of following your heart is always pointing up.