Most of us do as we are told.
This habit forms early in life.
Our parents, for our own good, make us do things we don’t want to do: wake up early for school, eat broccoli, do homework, do house chores, etc.
Doing what we are told is conditioned into us from the very beginning.
But then we become adults.
This metamorphosis begins at about the age of fourteen and continues until about age twenty-five when the prefrontal cortex matures.
Smart parents begin handing over decision-making to their children during this metamorphosis stage.
They encourage their children to take individual responsibility.
They let them make mistakes.
They allow them to experiment and fail.
They stand ready to offer advice and direction.
Unfortunately, parents like this are in the minority.
Most parents hover over their kids, insulating them from life and imposing their will over the lives of their children, well into their twenties.
This prevents their children from becoming independent thinkers and doers.
As a result, most young adults wind up pursuing the goals and dreams their parents desire.
Most put their ladder on their parents’ wall and spend much of their life climbing that ladder.
At some point, they come to the realisation that they are unhappy doing what they are doing.
This leads to a feeling of despondency about the work they do and the life they are living.
This unhappiness usually begins to manifest in the late thirties, at a point when they have children of their own, a house and a mortgage.
Despondency sets in when they realise they are stuck between a rock and a hard place – they must continue to climb the ladder they put up on their parents’ wall, in order to meet the many financial demands of family life.
How do you break free?
How can you take your ladder off your parents’ wall and move it to YOUR WALL?
You must have a come to Jesus moment with yourself.
What would you like your ideal life to be like in, say, ten years?
Take out a piece of paper and pen and write down exactly what that ideal life would look like.
Embedded inside your narrative of that ideal life are the dreams that must be realised in order for your ideal life to become a reality.
Next, take baby steps in the pursuit of each one of the dreams that make up your ideal life.
Devote just twenty minutes every day pursuing just one of those dreams.
This will help build momentum.
Eventually, that momentum will accelerate and you will soon find yourself lost in the pursuit of your dreams and the goals behind those dreams.
Once you get going, your passion will take over and energize you.
Eventually, one by one, you will begin realizing each dream and as you do, you climb higher up your ladder and closer to the top of your wall.
The greatest part of pursuing your dreams is that you will begin to feel happy and enthusiastic about life.
Don’t wallow in self-pity because you do not like what you do for a living.
Take action.
Put your ladder on your wall and start climbing it every day.
Take action today.
