On courage to make unconventional decisions
Over the last couple of months, I have made many unconventional decisions.
I quit my bachelor's degree. I terminated a job application that looked promising. I have committed to a digital nomad lifestyle. And that’s just to name a few.
It took me a lot of courage to make these things happen and it was by no means easy. Was it worth it?
Absolutely. The thing is, all these decisions set me free.
For the longest time, I felt trapped by the ordinary decisions that I was expected to make:
Going to college, securing a job, renting an apartment, going on a weekly vacation 2 times per year, having kids, saving up for a house — up until recently I truly believed I wanted all these things.
These concepts are engraved so deeply into our minds that blindly pursuing them we often overlook what we really want.
Let’s be honest, usually, the situation is even worse. Most of the time, we don’t even know what we want.
We think that we know what we want. And then we get surprised and disappointed after we achieve it and don’t feel fulfilled.
Please, don’t get me wrong — people can genuinely want kids or a house and many of them do. The problem here is that most people don’t follow their genuine values and needs, but take them up from the outside world instead (whether it comes from family, friends, or society as a whole).
Growing up we form a certain idea of what a happy life should look like and start chasing it. Very rarely though, this picture influenced by your family, social media, and friends is deeply personal.
That is how, I believe, at a certain point in life we find ourselves living through crisis.
What can we do about it? It can’t be that the solution to this is to drop whatever you are doing and start over again, right?
Of course, it is not about dropping everything you are doing right away. It is about gathering self-knowledge (and then dropping everything if necessary).
Believe it or not, but high-quality self-knowledge will always lead you to unconventional decisions.
And the reason for that is You. Your experiences, your values, your fears, and your needs define you in an unparalleled way. Your way to happiness is one of a kind.
How is it possible then that by making usual choices you can get unusual results?
The secret behind the courage to make unconventional decisions is self-knowledge.
Mindless quitting is no different than mindless staying for a simple reason. In both situations, you don’t know what you really want.
But when you do, nothing can stop you from making it happen. And you do make it happen in a unique and thoughtful way.
