Illustration by Julia Gamolina
Some great wisdom on the paradox of planning your life via Fast Company —from Leo Babuato, Creator & Writer for zenhabits.net
Even young people who have a plan (be a doctor, lawyer, research scientist, singer) don’t really know what will happen. If they have any certainty at all, they‘re a bit deluded. Life doesn’t go according to plan, and while a few people might do exactly what they set out to do, you never know if you’re one of those. Other things come along to change you, to change your opportunities, to change the world. The jobs of working at Google, Amazon or Twitter, for example, didn’t exist when I was a teenager. Neither did this job (Blogging). So if you can’t figure out the future, what do you do? Don’t focus on the future. Focus on what you can do right now that will be good no matter what the future brings. Make stuff. Build stuff. Learn skills. Go on adventures. Make friends. These things will help in any future.”
As one 40-something woman shared, the only thing you can plan on is change. Embrace it. But despite all the change….somehow it all works out.
The best thing is that — it all works out. It worked out for me in that I have a professional life and family I love. And it worked out for all those friends I thought knew exactly what they wanted. A couple of them cast around for a while during various worthwhile things before they settled down with their main career. And a couple of friends had a false start but then they regrouped and went on to do something they liked. It will all be okay. Don’t worry so much about figuring it out right away. In retrospect, I worried too much about it.– 40-something, publishing, to PhD, college professor, secondary education, girls leadership
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