If you could distill the way you live your life into a single catchphrase, what would it be?
My catchphrase would channel my inner Fleetwood Mac, in four simple words.
Go Your Own Way.
I don’t choose those four words because I have illusions of grandeur. I don’t fancy myself a rebel or a rock star.
No. I choose them because of what they represent, on a fundamental level.
Namely, the ability to be an individual. To zig where others might zag. To forge my own destiny.
I have embraced this mantra for years. The path less chosen has consistently been mine.
When my high school classmates went off to prestigious universities in the Northeast, I moved to Miami for college. Palm trees and sunshine aside, my classmates largely looked down on my choice. But I wasn’t one to follow in their footsteps. So, I went my own way.
In college, I didn’t take on “safe” vocational studies. Instead of studying finance, law or medicine, I got a degree in Communication. Sure, the job market was larger for financial analysts, lawyers and doctors. But I didn’t see myself in those fields. (I am a writer, after all.) So, I went my own way.
After college, I sought out my first full-time job as a TV news producer. But I didn’t find it in Miami, or up north. I found it in a city I hardly knew anything about — Midland, Texas. So, I moved halfway across the country for a position with a salary similar to that of the cashiers at the local Walmart. Not many people — even in the media — would go such a distance for an anonymous off-camera position. But I did. I went my own way.
After three years in the news, I was burned out. So, I left my job without a new one lined up and moved 300 miles east to Dallas — another city where I only knew a few people. Starting over is daunting. Doing so willfully, with no safety net, is borderline ridiculous. Yet, I knew in my soul that this was the best path for me to take. I went my own way.
It would be easy to say I was being bold by making these against-the-grain decisions. But that would not be accurate. Truth is, I am intensely introverted, and about the furthest thing from impulsive.
Because of my nature, the choices I made felt excruciating. Opening myself up to change, risk and doubt was not something I took on gleefully.
Yes, the moves I made came after much soul-searching and quiet deliberation. They built upon the realization that what is difficult is often what is necessary. That the road most traveled might not be the best path for me.
I share this because there is a powerful lesson we can all take away from my experience.
That lesson? That following our heart and soul might mean straying from the pack. That being true to ourselves doesn’t always mean following the well-worn path.
Indeed, it’s often when we branch out that we find ourselves.
What we’re made of. And what we can make happen.
So, when you’re considering your next move, don’t be afraid to blaze your own trail.
Go your own way.