A National Crisis
In your lifetime how many times have you heard the following statements?
- Follow the Rules
- Do What You Are Told
- Read the Directions
This is how we grow up . . . following the rules, doing what we’re told, and reading the directions. We learn very quickly that it is much easier for us to abide by the rules, than go against them. Those that don’t are frowned upon and may face undesirable consequences.
We grow up in this system with these rules and we are allowed to be ourselves AS LONG as we act with in the boundaries. Most of us play the game and eventually we graduate high school and are thrown into a world with few rules, few boundaries, and no instructions. Our whole life we have been told to use our head, but never really taught how to think for ourselves, so we continue to seek instruction and direction. We get messages from ALL over the place: significant others, family, friends, advisers, teachers, newspapers, books, magazines, television, radio, internet . . . the list goes on and on. We listen and listen and listen and we end up making choices that will affect us the rest of our lives based on all this information coming at us.
There is ONE MAJOR PROBLEM!
We haven’t taken the time to understand who we are, what we really want out of life, and how to best use the information coming at us. Why would we do this? We certinaly aren’t taught to do this. How many times have you been asked by people “What do YOU really want?” It doesn’t happen, because we aren’t taught to dig deep and think about our passions and goals . . . we’re taught to follow the rules. For years we have been sold this dream based on this “plan”. Just follow the rules . . . go to college, get a job, work hard, get married, have children, buy a house, save for retirement etc.
What Happens?
We follow ‘societies plan’ and somewhere between age 23 – 30 we find that life is very different than the picture EVERYONE painted for us. We start to question what we’re doing and we become disengaged. We start to feel like we are missing something and we know there is something more to us, but we’re not quite sure. Most of us just continue on the path as it is all we know, but we hope things will change and become better. All of a sudden we’re 35, 40, 50 . . . and the only thing that has really changed is that we are older, more stuck in our ways, and have less time on this earth.
Consider this:
- Ages 13-20
We are building our foundation for the rest of our lives. We just need to learn enough to get through high school and contribute to society without screwing up too bad that we limit our opportunities.
- - Ages 21-29
This period of time sets the tone for the rest of our lives. We need to learn as much as we can about who we are and the world around us. There is a certain amount of slack that is given to us by the “real world” and the closer we come to age 30 the less slack we are allowed. If we are going to make serious changes in our lives this is the time we want to make them as expectations are lower and responsibilities are less. During this time period we can fall down and get back up a few times before our options become limited.
- - Age 30+
When we turn 30 it’s GAME TIME. If we aren’t stable, focused, and serious in our lives and careers by now the ‘real world’ starts to lose confidence in us and as a result may limit our opportunities UNTIL we are able to show stability and focus. By the time most people have turned 30 they have created a life with such responsibility and obligation that major life changes become unrealistic due to the responsibilities and the fear of judgment from others.
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What Do We DO?
Take control of your life and future RIGHT NOW!