Your Infinite Potential: Walking Your Path

You may have set yourself some goals and ambitions in life. You may even have a plan. But to be truly fulfilled, you need to really understand the why behind the goals and plans. Many of us aim to live a life that we think we should be living. Someone else’s view of perfection. Or one where we fit in with the people around us. We may feel we won’t be accepted if we are just ourselves. It’s human nature to look at others – what job they have, what type of holidays they go on, their image at work. But…

It’s your life, no one else’s.

As Steve Jobs said, “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

That's a great sentiment, but it’s really hard in today’s world because of the depiction of ‘perfect lives’ in social media, peer pressure, our own fear of missing out in what others have and living up to the expectations of how we should be, set by our family or workplace culture. Playing office politics to get the promotion or pay rise you want. Not wanting to show any vulnerabilities.

But, to be true to yourself, to be authentic, you need to look beyond all that. Take a moment, right now, to think of someone that you really admire. It could be someone you know, or it could be someone famous. Why to do admire them? Chances are it isn't because they are very adept at imitating someone else. Most likely they are someone who has stayed true to their passions, worked hard for what they believed in, developed their talents, perhaps faced some adversity along the way. You may not want to do the things they are doing, but you appreciate the way they have lived their lives and tacked their challenges.

Now, contemplate what makes you proud of yourself. If you think about the moments in your life that are meaningful—I mean truly meaningful—you will always find a degree of true authenticity. A heartfelt compliment, an honest performance appraisal, an accomplishment you worked for, learning from your mistakes, standing up for what you believe in: these all involve authenticity.

However, you don’t need to think that being authentic means being ‘different’from other people. It means following your path and staying true to yourself. If you follow your own path you will have a sense of meaning, which will make you much more resilient when you encounter setbacks. It doesn’t have to be the road less travelled. It just needs to be your road.

Creating your path

Even if you have strong goals and ambitions, the path is not all laid out for you. That is because it is your path to create, not a pre-existing route that someone else has laid out for you. You may be aiming for a similar goal to someone else, but your paths to get there could be quite different. It’s about the circumstances you find yourself in and the choices you make.

As Professor Joseph Campbell pointed out in the 1980’s: "If you can see your path laid out in front of you, step by step, you know it's not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That's why it's your path.” Yet it is important to note that following one’s bliss, as Campbell put it, isn’t merely a matter of doing whatever you like, and certainly not doing simply as you are told. It is a matter of “identifying that pursuit which you are truly passionate about and attempting to give yourself absolutely to it. In so doing, you will find your fullest potential and serve your community to the greatest possible extent." 

Sometimes you may come to a crossroads in your path – with significant choices to make. It’s not always easy but come back to why you are following this path in the first place – your reason for heading in that direction. And know that whatever decision you make, you will learn something from it . Any struggles will help you to become more capable. I used to have a real difficulty making decisions (probably still do, to some extent). That’s because I thought of every decision as permanent and that it would close down the other options. But in reality, whatever decision we make, if we have made it for the right reasons, will give us experiences we haven’t had before. It’s better than standing still and it may help us with any choices we make in the future.

How

Trust yourself. Stay true to yourself. And every once in a while, turn around and look at how far you have already come.

“Be yourself — not your idea of what you think somebody else’s idea of yourself should be.” — Henry David Thoreau

Diane is Head of People Development at Newton Europe

This is the 15th in the Series: Your Infinite Potential:

1. Your Infinite Potential: Living to the Max
2. Your Infinite Potential: Prune for New Growth
3. Your Infinite Potential: The Power of Morning Ritual
4. Your Infinite Potential: Lies Outside Your Comfort Zone
5. Your Infinite Potential: Making the Most of Your Time
6. Your Infinite Potential: Are you Holding You Back?
7. Your Infinite Potential: Through Helping Others
8. Your Infinite Potential: Stay Curious
9. Your Infinite Potential: Be Less Busy Being Busy
10. Your Infinite Potential: Recharge Yourself
11. Your Infinite Potential: Learn to Listen and Listen to Learn
12. Your Infinite Potential: Getting Back on Track
13. Your Infinite Potential: Baby Steps
14. Your Infinite Potential: Uniquely You