Don't Let Life Happen To You!
We always look at death as a dreadful thing to happen to ourselves and to our loved ones, but why should we?.... That’s out of our control. If anything, we had never thought of the fear in not beginning to live. We deserve to live life the way we desire and live it with joyfulness, happiness and peacefulness. Fear of living life the way you want has become our life choice unconsciously. It’s just an illusion that we perceived success as; unfamiliar responsibility, becoming someone we are not, and never maintaining that success. We program ourselves to stay put in a position where we understand things, have become used to it and are now far too comfortable in our situation.... Even if we are unhappy with it.
At the end or towards the end of something, we tend to draw towards the urge to reflect on our past, as we like to look back on the accomplishments and look forward for a new beginning of something. It's also a time to reflect on our lives and ensure that we are living the life we want. It could be the end of school, the end of the month, or the end of the year. It could be the end of a project or the end of a career, or the worse, the end of your income because you just got fired by your boss.
Even though I consider this sickness, I’ll say it anyways, for the sake of honesty. It's easy to look at ones life and be happy with where you are. The sickness is happiness in comparison with others. You have a good job, a spouse or significant other, children, a nice car, and all of the trappings of success. Clearly you are well on your way to success. But the real question is, are you happy with what you are doing?
We always look outside of ourselves when we need answers, but never within. The whole happiness and sadness thing is just this; The only reason why you are sad, is because you think life is not happening the way you think life should happen. Similarly, if life happens the way you think it should happen, then you’re happy. That’s all there is to it.
No, this is not an article about the spiritual side of your life. Normally these articles focus all of the attention on management and leadership concepts that you can use to shape your career, improve your performance, and move up the ladder of success. But as we head towards the end of this year’s first half, I think it is important to take a step back and make sure that the path we are on is the right path for us.
You see life has a way of just happening to people. Your first job tends to be the job that you were first offered, in an industry that may or may not really interest you, doing what you may or may not have a real talent in. Your career then tends to grow from there. You get promoted or change companies, but tend to stay with what you are familiar with and what you have done in the past. Months turn into years and at some point in time you find that you are on a career path that you never really intended to be on at all. It may be a great, wonderful career path doing all of the things that are important to you, or it may be a path where you have had some successes, but don't find inspiring.
In short, your life has been on autopilot. That is when you know that life has happened to you.
You didn't plan to be where you are. And while you are not unhappy with where you are, you are not happy with it either. It does not speak to your inner being.
The purpose of life is to live a life of purpose. - Richard Leider
As you sit down in the coming weeks to plan your new years resolutions, take a few extra minutes to think about where you are in your life and where you are in your career. If you have not made a life plan in the past, start one now. Identify your core values. Identify what is important to you in life and in your career. Figure out were you want to be in 10 years and make sure your current path will take you there.
Your life is a fairy tale, with the journey unscripted. Take control of your life and write your own script. Understand your desires and passions and build a plan for your life that will be a source of happiness and pride. It may be in management and leadership. It may be in the arts. But whatever it is, make sure that you control your life and that your life does not just happen to you.
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