How to get from A to Z

What’s the most popular question you were asked in your earliest 20s?  Did it perhaps sounds a little like this, “So, what are you doing with your life?” or perhaps, “Now that you’re done with school, what’s next?”  Oh God, what’s next?  That terrifyingly colossal question, which so fluidly slips off the tongue of the asker and forcefully punches the gut of the receiver. 

The one that has compelled many of us to perfect the specialized art of seamlessly changing the subject.  Now for most of us this sounds all too familiar, but there are a select ‘unfairly lucky’ few to whom this question is as forceful as a feather floating in air. 

We all know who I’m talking about.  The ones who have apparently always known exactly what they wanted from life and are right on track to achieving it. 

Their plans are solid and their speed of success always seems to leave the rest of us crying in their dust – stagnant and dejected.  So what is their secret? Money? Potions? Deception maybe? 

Who knows, but for the rest of us who wake up to the realization that all the plans we had made for our lives just don’t fit in our puzzle anymore, it’s about time to dust off our clothes and begin to create our new puzzle pieces. 

Now I know what you’re thinking, why are all these positive sentiments always so much easier said than done?  And trust me girl, I get you.  But we got to start somewhere right? 

So how do we get from A to Z we wonder? Well I’ve heard it said that if you find yourself lost in a forest the first thing you have to do is stand still, take a breath and get your bearings.  You have to know where you are before you can even begin to think about where you’re going. 

So who are you?  What are you passionate about?  What is your financial situation? Who do you know?  What do you have?  Take the time to reacquaint yourself with yourself.  Chances are you aren’t the same person you were when you made all your grand plans at the age of 12 or 16 or even 19.  Accept that you are in a different stage and place in your life and that it’s ok to want different things now. Keep in mind that you’re in your 20s so trust me, what you want is probably not going to stay the same for the next decade. 

Ok so now that you know who you are and what you have to work with, you need to decide where you’re going.

This might seem easy but there are a lot of tricks being played by others and ourselves that can cloud our answers to this question. 

You have to think about two things; where you are going and more importantly, why it is that you want to go there.

Are you choosing a certain destination because it’s easiest, or because it would make your parents or husband happy, or because it’s financially the safest and most stable option, or because it’s your true passion? 

See there is no right or wrong answer here but you must make sure it’s right for you.  That given everything you know from standing still, whichever destination you choose is truly the best place for you to go.

Phew, ok so we know where we are and we know where we are going.  The only thing left is to figure out how to get there. 

Believe it or not this is the easiest and most exciting part.  You know the saying ‘the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step’, well guess what, that’s all you have to know or do. 

Sit down and brainstorm on your own or with trusted friends or family about how it is you can get to your chosen destination.  Who do you need to meet?  Where do you need to apply? What do you need to buy? 

List the broadest things, such as get a job in your chosen field, to the most specific thing, such as wake up at 6am every day and eat breakfast.  Once your comprehensive list is done, get to it.  Pick a couple of things on the list that you can start tomorrow and commit to them. 

Make sure that every day you are making sure that you are checking things off this list.  This list is now your life bible.  Live by it, and it’ll get you to your chosen promise land.  And enjoy this process. 

Enjoy the joy, the exhilaration and the feeling of accomplishment.  Work hard and happily, and before you know it, you’ll look up and realize that you have not only reached your Z, but you are standing at a new A, at the start of a whole new adventure.  Now isn’t that grand?

 Photo: Vadodara.infoisinfo.com.in