Choosing The Easy Path

Going through my high school yearbook – which is surely an antique by now – I saw remarks from fellow students and English teachers, asking me to keep writing. So why did I go to college as a math major? The answer is simple. Math was easy for me. I could skip class, read a little bit of the textbook, and ace tests – even in calculus, causing my teachers to shake their heads and ask me how I did it. For me, math was easy because it’s logic, but as a math major, this creative mind quickly understood that it wasn’t fulfilling. I mean, if I really put some thought into it back then, I would have realized that if it was fulfilling, I would have been in every math class, soaking in the details. Guess which classes I never missed? English, especially creative writing.

Seeking A Safety Net

The lesson? The easy path isn’t always the right one. Why didn’t I see myself the way my fellow students and English teachers did? They saw a writer, but logical Jean didn’t know how to make a living as one. I had a better shot with math because I could have been a teacher, an actuary, or applied it to business. Ah yes! There it is! The safety net I talked about in my last post. The one I need to feel emotionally, intellectually, and financially secure. There was a risk involved with becoming a writer. I didn’t believe in myself enough to listen to my heart. Not mature enough to strategize a plan, I settled.  I was just a chicken back then. Not a strategic one - yet.

Nothing is Wasted, Every Step Provides a Gift

How many other people have the same story? No doubt, quite a few. But the good news is, it's never too late for anyone to find their path. I didn’t find the little trail that led to my path until I was in my late twenties. But every step we take gives us a piece of what we need to make it to the next level. Even the dreaded bend in the road - offers something.

Listening to Your Gut Always Pays Off

Four times in my life, I agreed to do something that required a lot of my time and absolutely zero pay. People told me I was crazy, but it felt right, so I did it anyway. Listening to your gut always pays off. Little did I know that years down the road, those things I did for free, would open the door to amazing opportunities. Opportunities that led me closer to who I was and what I wanted to be. The things I did for free, helped me learn things, acquire skills, and gain experience in areas that I would never have otherwise been exposed to.  The things I did for free were draining, and sometimes I questioned whether I made the right choice, but that bend in the road was an opportunity that helped get me to the next level.

Do you want to experience the joy of discovering who you truly are? To get up and go to work completely in love with what you do? Don’t underestimate the power of listening to your heart and paying attention to your gut.

Until next time,

Jean AKA The Strategic Chicken - Making life’s journey one strategic step at a time