“I was not supposed to be here this long,” David moaned.
That was part of the message I received from a new member of Total Life Freedom School, talking about his desire to get out of the career that has swallowed up his time and suffocated his creativity and finally build a business for himself.
When he started that job, it was supposed to be a stop gap. Yet a decade later, he was still there. Hence, the urgency to finally put in the time and effort to create a business that would not only fulfill his passion and purpose, but to also give him and his wife the time together that has been so sparse lately. The urgency in which he is working now is what he wishes he would have done a decade ago.
It reminded me of a scene from the show, The Office, and a conversation between Jim and Michael. Michael Scott was the boss, and Jim Halpert was one of the sales people in the office. Through time, Jim had earned trust, and when Michael took a vacation, Jim filled in as boss.
As much of a hard time as Jim would give Michael, it was only when he was filling in for him did Jim realize the challenges that came with the job.
Upon Michael’s return to the office, Jim humbly mentioned how glad he was that Michael was back on the job. As Michael casually ate a few snacks, he asked Jim what he had missed while he was gone. Jim proceeded to mention a few things that he tried that went horribly wrong.
Michael comforted Jim by saying that it was a rookie mistake and that he had done the same thing in the past. Jim seemed surprised-and relieved- by the admission. It also looked like he was impressed that Michael would admit it. Michael then went on to show Jim some more confidence.
“Just wait…in ten years, you’ll figure it out,” Michael proclaimed.
Jim confidently, and a little sarcastically, stated that he didn’t think he’d be there in ten years.
“That’s what I said,” Michael wisely and prophetically said.
The camera then focused on Jim’s face, and the realization hit him that Michael never planned on staying in the office for ten years. And you can quickly see a fear in Jim’s face that if Michael never planned on staying that long, and did, that the exact same thing could happen to him without realizing it.
Until that moment, Jim was focused-and stressed- about a failed office birthday party experiment. He was caught up in the dynamics of office relationships and everything that came with that. But he didn’t realize that he was going down the same path that Michael went down.
Recently, a reader of my book The Wealth of Connection told me that one of their favorite lines from the book was when I wrote that, sometimes, we can get really good at doing the wrong things.
Jim, Michael and David- who I started this newsletter about- are no different than millions of people that wake up one day in the future and wonder what exactly happened to their lives. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. I wasn’t supposed to be here this long.
Yet they did.
There are numerous reasons why this happens.
- Other people’s goals overtake our own.
- Fear stops us from going after what we truly want.
- Lack of a clear path allows us to stay comfortable enough where we are at.
- Dangling carrots, like pay increases, bonuses and retirement compensation keep us in it just one more year. And before we know it, we are uttering the same words to ourselves.
I was not supposed to be here this long.
Bronnie Ware wrote a book in 2011 called Top Five Regrets of the Dying. The top regret, from her studies, was this.
I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
Most people look back and see that most of their dreams were not fulfilled. We spend it working in jobs we never meant to work in. We spend it majoring in minor things. How else do you explain realizing that ten years of your prime have passed and you have spent it doing something that you didn’t really want to do in the first place?
I wish more people could find the courage to do what David just did. Realize that the life he is currently living is not what he wants, and take action to achieve what he truly wants out of his life. And by focusing on that, instead of getting good at the wrong things, he can do the important work of getting great at the right things.
Have an AMAZING week!
Vincent
P.S. If you find yourself like David and are looking to create a business that gives you the creativity, income and time freedom that you’ve desired, check out The Total Life Freedom School here!
