the ride is as important as the destination

I’ve been reading Po Bronson’s awesome book What should I do with my life? over the last few days, and I have to say that it’s pretty much a must read for everyone. I plan on posting a summary (for myself) once I finish it (should be in the next few days), but I had a few thoughts I felt like writing about now.

I’ve been almost beating myself over the last few weeks for not filling my life with passion, and while it has certainly been good for me to take a step and evaluate where I am and where I want to go, beating yourself up is never a good thing. In Po’s book he talks to people that have “answered the ultimate question,” (what should I do with my life?) and while the stories all over the map they certainly do have some similar themes running throughout. One I’ve been thinking about is how everything we do, every job we have, every activity we choose to be a part of, can and should contribute to finding your “calling.” All of the people in his book were involved in all sorts of jobs, college majors, and hobbies before finding their thing.

So where I am now is equally important to where I am going. I’m learning a lot about myself (see my posts), about the business world, about networking, about my physical health, about my fears, about what I want. The truth is you really need to be in something you don’t want, to really know what you do want. I guess that whole Goldilocks story really does have an important life lesson. There is something (probably a lot of “somethings”) that is just right for me, but it’s going to take a lot of trial and error to find it, so I guess I should just enjoy the ride.