We like to have instructions for everything, to be guided in how we do things, but at the same time, we want to live under the impression that all we do is our decision. In life, instructions are rarely as useful as we make them out to be, because life is unpredictable. It can’t be lived only by following instructions.
There will be situations you’ll need to adapt to because there is nothing in the instructions about them. The only guidance, that kind of works, comes from within, but you rarely look in there. You prefer to search for guidance outside of yourself.
There are many things to learn out there, some of them are good for you, some of them, not so much. That’s why you need to use the inner compass you developed since birth. Deep inside, you know what needs to be done, in most situations, but you don’t want to accept it because society tells you otherwise.
Society doesn’t know what you need, and it doesn’t care. It is your responsibility to find what you need, and when you don’t find it, to do the best with what you get. Question any kind of instruction that is pushed upon you. Not everything you are instructed to do is in your best interest.
Even if at times it seems easier to be guided by others, you must learn to guide yourself in the right direction. When things get hard, there’ll be no one to provide instructions on how to go past them. That is why you need to perfect your inner compass all the time. It will prove useful when you get lost.
Chasing something that you see in your mind will never turn out exactly as you envision it, but this is not a reason to give up. You need to know this before you start so that when reality has nothing to do with your plan you’ll be able to adapt and find something that works.
The target you are chasing might move further away without you even noticing. When this happens, you’ll have to remember the reasons why reaching this target is important. Doing this will provide strength to push past the disappointments of this moment.
There are also benefits that you can find when the path you need to follow turns out to be longer than you would want it to be. At every turn, opportunities to learn will pop up, even if some of them will taste like failures.
Not giving up on your dreams is important, but what you choose to chase is more important. To be able to choose better for yourself, you must know what matters to you, what can hurt you, and what you are willing to trade for what you call success.
If you are not clear on these things before you start, you’ll end up trading far more than you are willing for something that looks like success. Your success needs to mean something to you. It must not be a copy of someone else’s, and for this is necessary that you know who you are before you start chasing it.
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