If you’re like most people, you’ve unwittingly adopted other people’s metrics of success as your own. This happens by osmosis. People usually conform to their parents’ or society’s opinions of what’s important.
But to have a life you passionately love, you need to question whose rules you’re playing by. You need to ask yourself what success actually means to you.
[Tweet “You can’t live a big, bold life on someone else’s terms.”]
This is where courage comes into the equation.
Maybe your parents, teachers and mentors all valued academic achievement and you’re haunted by the notion that you should get a master’s degree. But deep in your heart you’re passionate about entrepreneurship and nothing would excite you more than to launch a small business.
What direction do you go? Do you make the choice to live up to other people’s hopes and dreams for you? Or do you kick external approval to the curb and do your own thing?
I’ve seen far too many waste years living for the approval of other people. They are usually fully unaware they’re doing it. Many have wildly impressive resumes, but their bliss level is on empty.
You might be forsaking your life satisfaction for the approval of others. Read the following statements and ask yourself if any represent your beliefs. Be brutally honest with yourself.
- When I’m considering a major life change, I think about how I’m going to explain it to my parents, mentors or friends.
- I rarely make any life choice that would disappoint my parents.
- If family or friends question a decision I’m making, it must be wrong.
- It’s important to me that family and friends are impressed by my life choices.
- It would make me uncomfortable to create a life that was wildly different from the lives of my family and friends.
Leadership Development: If any of these ring true for you, it’s likely that you’re weighing other people’s opinion of you heavily into your life choices. Don’t sell yourself or others short. If you want a bigger life, you’ll need to start making decisions that align with that little voice inside you, not the external chorus.
Live Bigger: If you liked this post, you’ll love my new book Lead + Live: 6 Practices to Live Bigger.