Decide what to do next.
Yes, this is your most important decision for 2025. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is more important.
It’s not the lack of opportunity that destroys our dreams; it’s our inability to decide.
As Seth Godin asks, “Will you continue on the path of compliance, or will you eventually choose inspiration?”
Will you?
You see the real question is not whether you are capable of living your dream, of making a difference, you were born with a purpose. The real question is, “Are you willing to make the decision, truly deciding what to do next?”
Or will you remain compliant, following the rules that have kept you safe? I ask these questions because the questions we ask about any situation transform the way we see the world. Are your responses to opportunities or new situations underpinned by the way you have always done things? The safe, known, comfortable route?
Remember, the pull towards the familiar is merely a reminder of how we have been trained to respond to life. It is definitely not a representation of all the opportunities available to you.
Road less traveled
Yes, taking the road less traveled means that we come face to face with “the void” of the unknown, and it’s at this point that many revert to the known. It is, after all, less risky, safer, and more predictable, or so we are led to believe by those who have dutifully followed the rules yet never speak about the devastating long-term pain of lost dreams.
When last was another human interested in what it cost you to abandon your dreams? When last has anyone asked you what fills your thoughts at 2 am when sleep escapes your soul’s yearning? Oh, no one has ever asked you.
That’s because it’s the social norm to push away those rough around-the-edges, wild dreams that make them roll their eyes to the heavens while giving you that deeply concerned look of “apparently giving a damn”.
You see, most humans are far too busy pointing out the risks to you (and them) should you dare follow your dream, rock the boat, or stand out from the crowd. Let’s face it: many people benefit from your sacrifices, and they are seldom willing to relinquish these benefits because you foolishly want to follow your passion, your dream.
When faced with the crossroads of choosing the dream or staying safe, you spend most of your time weighing up the risks of choosing the dream? How often do you consider the risks of not taking action? Of squeezing that loud, excited, colorful dream back into that place deep down inside, once again silencing its voice.
I am reminded of what I recently read in one of Seth Godin’s books “If not enough people doubt you, you are not making a difference”.
Safe or happy?
Yet being doubted by our peers, friends, and colleagues is not how we are wired right. We are wired for approval, endorsement, and accolades. Perhaps that’s why so few of us get to make a difference and risk living our dreams, keeping them hidden deep down in our souls where the world cannot see or judge, where it’s safe.
However, remember that staying safely within the lines and searching for approval seldom serves the greatest version of you. It very often only benefits those around you.
How, you may be asking? Because it ensures that you remain predictable, and predictability keeps everyone safe.
SAFE ≠ HAPPY !
As you enter 2025, I remind you, as much as I remind myself, that we do not need to want what others want us to want.
Deciding what we will say yes to and what no looks like is entirely in our hands. To do this, we must be willing to suspend what we believe to be the truth because, as we do, alternative truths emerge, opening possibilities we may never have considered.
Then ……….. one way or another, we must DECIDE.
“Leap into the void, a chance to give birth to your genius and make magic where there was no magic before” – Seth Godin.