Do you think you can’t change direction in life because you would waste all the time, money, education, energy and whatever else you invested in your past?
Many people never bother to figure out what their passions are because of this belief.
They spend their lives being comfortably uncomfortable. Thinking there’s got to be something better out there for them but never allowing themselves to consider that it may be off the path they’ve chosen up to this point.
This used to be me. I was very driven and goal oriented and had my whole life planned out from the day I entered college.
I attended Boston College’s School of Management and graduated with an accounting degree. I had a job in a big public accounting firm before Christmas of my senior year and started there two weeks after graduation.
I pushed myself to become a partner in the firm faster than anyone ever had and seven years into it, I got pretty close.
And then I got the itch.
I asked myself if this was really what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. The answer was a big NO but I didn’t know what else to do.
I had invested four years of college and seven years at the firm and earned a CPA certificate. I couldn’t just waste that, right? I couldn’t just throw it all out the window.
Or, could I?
While still at the firm, I found myself cutting out quotes and pictures from magazines that alluded to a different way of life. I kept these in a folder that I still have today (this was 16 years ago).
Finally, the itch was too much to take and I had to leave the firm in search of something, anything different.
I told myself that I would go on an adventure for a little while and then return to the safe walls of the firm and the firm was fine with that. I still felt like I couldn’t waste all those years of invested time.
After a while and a number of months into the adventure, I started to look at the whole thing differently.
Why was I tying my future – the rest of my life, for God’s sake – to something that I was no longer excited about?
Why was I requiring that the next 50 years of my life be just like the first 11 of college and the beginning of my career?
Why should my past dictate my future?
It suddenly all seemed pretty crazy. Why would I limit myself like that?
I decided not to.
Over the next couple years, I tried on a lot of hats: outfitter, dude ranch manager, horse trainer, horse facility manager, equine therapy volunteer. And I loved it!
I figured out some of my passions and gave myself the freedom to follow them in different ways.
While I ended up going back into the corporate world to make a decent paycheck (I’m still pretty good at the whole finance and accounting thing), I did it differently. For the most part, I made sure the way I practiced the trade that I was trained for was much more in line with my personal values and lifestyle. For example, I’m the only CFO I know of who worked almost exclusively from home.
Going forward, I know I can be whoever and whatever I choose to be, regardless of who I’ve been and what I’ve done in the past.
There are no limits (although professional gymnastics is probably out given my age and height).
I’m currently looking into getting my yoga teacher certification just because I love everything about yoga and I might use it when I put together my dream of an upscale guest ranch that offers yoga and equine programs.
With no prior experience, I’m figuring out the whole blogging thing from the technical, marketing and networking sides on a shoestring budget. And I’m determined to make a full-time income from it.
Anything is possible.
New beginnings can happen any time regardless of age or circumstances. I’m in my forties, have a big, fat mortgage and some other debts, a full-time job that barely pays the bills, a working husband and three adorable little kids and none of that will be an excuse to living the life I want.
Don’t feel like you’re wasting your past in order to live a vibrant future. If you do, you’re just wasting your future. And you’re worth so much more than that.