You have a vision of the life you want for you and your family.
It’s your vision—no one else’s. Yet, the constraints of society, family, friends, individuals we only know from social media, managers at work, and a number of other influences prevent you from taking your vision and making it your reality. The short-sightedness of others is holding YOU back from taking creative control over your life, pursuing your passions, living a life of purpose, and finding the happiness you seek.
“Every person takes the limits of their own field of vision for the limits of the world.” — Arthur Schopenhauer pic.twitter.com/uqwsv1qM6q
— Visualize Value (@visualizevalue) January 29, 2021
We’re taught from an early age that we’re supposed to go to school, get good grades, graduate college, find a good job with great benefits, maybe make a few job/career changes, get married, buy that house, have 2.5 kids, put the kids through college, and one day retire…the American Dream. Your life’s path has been predetermined, who the original director was, I’m not sure—I leave off creative because it’s not— and it’s already been paved by the generations who have come before you. Stay on the paved path and you’ll be good.
For many, that path is the right path—no judgement here. But maybe that’s not you…
If given creative control over your life:
- You’d start your own business. Or, multiple businesses.
- You’d want to take time off from the corporate world to raise you kids.
- You’d have multiple jobs that allow you to do the things you enjoy and are passionate about while creating the income you need.
- You’d accept less income to have more flexibility in your life.
- You’d travel the world while working remotely thanks to the advancement of technology (this is what my video editor is currently doing—shoutout to Tyler!)
The possibilities are endless and only you know what you really want.
Reality Check
Don’t get it twisted, taking ownership of creative director is not an easy task.
There will be self-doubt. You’ll question your ability to direct as the path you have in mind will most likely not be the path you end up following. You have to be comfortable with pivoting, wandering a bit, and being open to signs guiding you toward your next move—I talked about this in this week’s episode of The Pursuit.
You will be told you shouldn’t be doing what you’re doing—”you can’t do that” “that’s too risky” “that’s too hard” “you have it too good”—the limitations of others will be placed upon you, but you do not have to accept them. You do, however, need to be willing to listen to the concerns, evaluate them, and determine if they might be valid because sometimes our doubters are right.
I told you this wasn’t going to be easy. But like my friend Corey Hoffstein has coined in investing ,”no pain, no premium“. The best outcomes aren’t reached without hard work, sacrifice, struggle (struggle doesn’t have to be a negative word), and some failure. If it was easy, everyone would be living their best life and no one would be stuck in a job/relationship/situation that makes them unhappy.
Not everyone placing their limiting thoughts on you is doing so intentionally or to hold you back—in fact, most of them care about you very much. They don’t want to see you get hurt. They love you. They just don’t realize they have fallen victim to following the predetermined path they are on—they don’t know they can be the creative director of their life.
As previously mentioned, sometimes their concerns highlight flaws in your script, which can be addressed to advance you forward, but many times their concerns will hold you back if you let them.
Self-Audit
In order to break free from the constraints holding you in place, you’ll need to re-evaluate where you spend your time, how you spend your money (ahem, get help from a financial advisor), make sacrifices, who you surround yourself with, and ultimately, align your life with the vision you have. Being the creative director requires a lot of planning. After all, you’re going off the path that has been paved for you by others and creating your own–you cannot do this without a flexible plan.
This Is True In Reverse
All of this can be true in the reverse direction.
Today’s hustle culture can make you feel like you’re underachieving if you don’t have multiple side hustles, don’t own your own business, or aren’t constantly working. That may not be the life you want. (I’ll let you in on a secret…the majority of the people “living” that life aren’t really about that life. Because if they were, they wouldn’t be wasting time talking about how busy or successful they are—they’d be putting in the work. There are a lot of frauds out there.) As the creative director of you life, you may decide you don’t need any of that and the path you were sent down is in fact the right path for you.
There is no universal “right” answer. There is only a right answer for YOU.
You know if you are following the script of the wrong director. You are the creative director of your life and if don’t like the script, flip it.
You have a vision of the life you want for you and your family…are you living it?
Don’t go full Kanye…but you’ll need a little of this:
Disclaimer: Nothing on this blog should be considered advice, or recommendations. If you have questions pertaining to your individual situation you should consult your financial advisor. For all of the disclaimers, please see my disclaimers page.
