Next time you are sitting in a lecture hall, take a quick look around. You are sitting in a room alongside dozens of students. You are all studying the same subject, at the same school, and are all focusing your attention on the individual at the front. You may feel less like an individual and more like a sheep amongst the flock. The same feeling can come up when crammed on a subway train, or when walking through a crowd to get to work. It is as though you are making the same choices as everyone else, and living the same life as everyone else.

Many people pick their degree or career based on what is expected as opposed to doing what they want. It is important to remember that, now more than ever, we live in a time of many choices. Post-secondary education can mean many different things, thanks to the vast number of majors and programs there are to choose from. If you feel you chose yours due to societal pressure or reasons other than what you truly want, it is not too late to change it. Credits can be transferred and you have many years ahead of you. A fifth year of high school was fully eliminated in Ontario back in 2003, meaning you started university or college a full year sooner than generations before you in that province. Do not be afraid to take more than four years to finish your education!

The fast-paced nature of modern life finds people changing jobs more often and workplace competition growing more intense. This is not a race, but a journey that you are undertaking. People throw around the word success, and you may feel that you have to follow the crowd to successfully get an impressive job or purchase a home. These are parameters set by others. Think of success and happiness as one in the same. If those things make you happy, then you are not following the crowd in pursuing them but rather are following your own emotions. If a simpler life is what you desire, you are not defying people’s expectations but instead building your own.

You do not have to trudge through a job just for the sake of having a job while waiting for retirement to live your ideal life. Half of building your own story in life is determining what you want. The other important half to consider is determining what negatives you are able to endure. If your ideal career does not pay well, are you able to give up certain things to afford the lower income? If you want to focus on family, are you willing to find work and a place to live that will allow for that? It may sound pessimistic, but thinking about those negatives will allow you to fully shape the life you want. With patience and a rounded perspective, you can build your own life and not just follow the crowd.

Sources:

Eisen, Michael. Creating Your Own Life Path. http://www.positivelypositive.com/2012/04/25/creating-your-own-life-path/