Determine Who You Are & Where You Are Going...or Someone Else Will!

If you don't decide what your life is about, it defaults to what you spend your days doing. ~Robert Brault 

Many of us believe that we know where it is that we want to go in life and how we want to live.  At least we think we do.  Maybe a few of us have even written it down somewhere.  But many of us don’t realize just how many other people (some uninvited) have coauthored that imagined destination and way of life with us.  We might also discover that over the years, our own voice has been drowned out by the voices of countless others.  The others may have good intentions...I am not declaring a brainwashing conspiracy or anything like that...but they can be loud, persistent voices that overpower our own. 

From a young age, we are given voices about who we are, who we should be, what we should do, how to live life, and what makes people happy by our parents, our friends, the schools we attend, religious groups, the media, society, our employers, and likely many more.  Where is our voice within all of this noise?  With the speed at which we live life nowadays, do we even have the time and space to find our own authentic voice?

I believe that we all owe it to ourselves to find that voice.  We need to block out the voices of all others trying to convince us to live life their way.  If you do not know who you are or where you are headed in life, I encourage you to figure it out, write it down, share it with others, and most importantly live it everyday.  The more you think about it, share it, and live it, the more powerful your own voice is and your ability to hear it over the noise of the rest of the world will prevail.  

The risk of not being clear on who you are and where you want to go in life is that someone is always willing and ready to decide it for you.  In the absence of clarity, your family, friends, employer/manager, or society in general will step in and gladly fill in any blanks you have, leading you on a journey of their choosing.  

Some participants in my workshops will say that they aren’t sure where they are going, so they just do what is in their calendar each day and then see where it leads.  Some blame others for where they have ended up.  Some play the victim to what they HAD to do or were TOLD to do.  Some feel trapped because they have to make a good living and provide for the family.  Some just do what is expected of them.  Some just tell you something that they think sounds good or is what others want to hear.  Yet, there are others that really dig deep, reflect with great depth, push themselves hard, question the voices, challenge their thoughts, and finally discover their own voice...they make courageous decisions and take bold actions to declare who they are and how they will live their lives.  And when this happens...everyone around them will know.  Find your voice, listen, and live!