A Realization I Had 3 Years After Graduating From College

As children, our entire lives have been laid out for us and there are little to no decisions that we can make independently for our future. Go to school to get good grades, get good grades so you can go to a good college, go to a good college so you can get that internship with a good company, get that internship with a good company so you can get a high status job with a good salary so we can be monetarily wealthy. That sounds great, but what happens if that really specific puzzle piece doesn't quite fit your mold? Too bad? So many young adults chase this specific dream and can't realize why they aren't happy. 

All too often, especially in the Bay Area, where I live, the thought process is around startups, equity in your company, status, and searching for all of the aforementioned stepping stones. Then, we acquire these jobs and that style of life is obtained that we are told that we want, and we still aren't happy. That's a scary prospect. If I don't enjoy this job that I was told that I want, what am I supposed to do? The answer to that question is popping up more and more the further I get from college.

So many of my friends start in their Account Exec positions or some other cookie cutter position with a company whose name we all recognize but hate it. They then realize that their passions lie elsewhere and start pursuing their passions. Personal trainer, teacher, world traveler, musician, chef, writer, artist. People are going of the beaten path and doing what will make them happy, not what will make them a check and make everybody else happy. The everyday corporate 9-5 (like 9-5 is actually a thing anymore) is not for everybody and it is beautiful to see people hanging up their suit and tie for a pair of nike shorts and a whistle.

Your own personal happiness is the base for all of the other building blocks that create your own personal sanctuary and without the base, the rest is going to crumble. Do whatever it is that is going to make you happy and the rest will fall into place from there.