A Reminder: Trust Yourself and Take Your Own Path

I don’t know about you, but in my 20s, I always thought that 40 year olds were very responsible people. I also thought that 40 year olds seemed to know what they were doing — they seemed to have life more figured out. They were usually married, with a house, career, and 2.2 kids.

I’ve realized that every decade has a new set of challenges and adventures for my career. You can never really figure it out completely. That’s actually what makes our lives worth living and exciting.

I can’t believe I am 40, as I still feel like a kid at times, and still have many more questions/uncertainties about my life. I might have:

• Answered one set of questions earlier in my career (What career should I pursue? should I go to business school? How do I meet others while working long hours?),
• Answered another set of questions towards the middle of my career (How to balance life and work? Is consulting really for me a long term thing?),
• A new set of questions challenging me later in my career (What new career do I want to pursue? Do I want to start a business? How do I balance my work with my time with my kids?).

The questions do not stop, and the journey does not end. No one really has it all figured out. This is actually the good news. We’re presented with choices and obstacles, whether we’re just out of school or are already a veteran in the business world.

Example of a Growth Mindset

When setting your longterm goals with a growth mindset, it’s important to trust yourself and take your own path.

Think about your growth and how you want to go about achieving it.

The point is that you may always look at others and wish you were more confident, accomplished, or have more things figured out like them, but you don’t need to do this. Comparing yourself too much with others can only lead to unnecessary frustration, as nobody’s life is exactly the same. Even those who look like they have everything figured out may not, or have other challenges that you don’t have.

You can always learn form others, but at the end of the day, it’s okay to take your own path, and trust that you’re doing what you need to do for your own circumstances. The path you take does not need to be perfect. Most people’s paths have large and small bumps in them. As long as you can learn from those bumps, and they do not stop you from moving forward, you’re on your right path!