I ran out of room, as what I wanted the title to read was:

No one knows what they are doing, but some people do it anyway.

In High School most of us heard from our family members that college was the next logical choice for our lives.  Once in college, somehow you are supposed to come to the conclusion on what you are going to spend the next 50 years of your life as your vocation.  Career choices at such a young age, with no real world experience in most cases, makes this very hard.  In fact, statistics show that roughly 66% of people that graduate college spend less than five years in their degree field or never enter that particular field at all.  So much for best laid plans…

There are some things to factor into the advice you receive early on in life, first and foremost that people who are offering up advice most likely love you and want you to succeed and be safe.  However, as the old saying goes, don’t ask for directions from someone who has not been where you want to go.  If your parents dream of you being a doctor but med school isn’t in your desired plans, you’ll need to have a tough conversation or two in the near future.  In this example, the title of Doctor is your parent’s dream but not yours, so better have some discussions now to get the skunk on the table.  Think about it, do you really want to spend your life living someone else’s dream?  It doesn’t matter how much you love your parents and they love you, pursuing a dream that is not yours is a recipe for disaster down the road.  It might be during med school or it could be a few years down the road.  You might make it all the way to retiring before it finally hits you that you didn’t live a life of your choosing.  But I am willing to bet at some point that realization is going to bludgeon you right between the eyes.

If your parents are doctors, it is understandable for them to want to have you follow in their footsteps.  If they are not doctors, it is reasonable for them to wish this for you, as it seems to be a great path to a financially secure life.  But trust me when I tell you that going to a job that you dread every day will suck the life out of you in a hurry.  Not to mention all of the debt you have accrued in the process; how are you going to pay off over a quarter of a million dollars in student loans if you leave the medical profession?  Might be better to avoid digging that monetary hole altogether if you are not 100% committed to that profession.

No one knows what they are doing, but some people do it anyway.  I didn’t know how to go about becoming a Pro Racquetball Player, or then a Coach of a team, nor did I know much about sales when I entered that field.  Some people are willing to keep walking in the dark until they finally see some light ahead.  Many cannot, but those of us who do reap the rewards many will only dream of.  Nothing is certain, and there is little that will guarantee you a successful and happy life.  Some people make tons of money but are workaholics and never enjoy the fruits of their labor.  Others trade time for money, and live a financially conservative lifestyle and spend tons of time with their kids, but they do not have the finances to travel much.  Striking this balance is very difficult; I am speaking from experience on this.

When I was traveling around the country as a competitive racquetball player, it appeared I was living the dream.  It should have been, as I worked my ass off to get to that level.  I was living out my dream, but you would never have known this judging by my demeanor.  I was broke, constantly scrounging for money to pay my rent and still get to the next tournament.  At the events I restrung racquets, took photos for the magazine, and other odd jobs to try to make ends meet.  It detracted from my real goal, which was putting myself in the best position to win matches.  I was stuck in this vortex for a long time; inside the top 32 in the world meant no monger did I have to qualify for the main draw of the event, but also meant I was paired up against the top 8 players in the world at most of the events.  The odds of winning matches against the best players on the planet were not in my favor, not by a long shot.

I tell you that recap to tell you this:  I am glad I did it.  I learned so much from that experience and it is a huge part of my life.  It led to me becoming the Head Coach of the ASU Racquetball team for 15 years.  That run as head coach included most of my favorite memories within the sport.  Did I know any of this when I started?  Of course not.  Neither did anyone else.  No one thought I could make it to that level in the first place, and somehow if I did, how I could make a living in such a minor sport.  If I listened to others, I never would have tried.  No one knew, most of all me, and yet I did it anyway.  I trusted that:

• I could rely on myself to figure things out along the way
• I could always return to school later
• I would answer the question: What If?
• That there is a finite amount of time where I would be able to pursue this
• It would lead to other things that would put me on a path to a more stable and financially secure life later on.

If you are convinced you know what you want to be when you grow up, that is awesome, full steam ahead.  If you are not sure, aim wide, like a Business degree or something else that has broad application in the business world.  Then you need to find what you are good at, and double down on that.  You will likely get passionate about that later on.  Do you really think the owner of the largest cement company in the US is passionate about concrete?  Hell no, he’s passionate about building a business, making money, being able to employee good people who benefit from the company, etc.  Keep your passion separate from your day job.  Trust me, I made mine into a day job, then a grind, and eventually burned out because of it.  If I had been a fireman who played Pro Racquetball, who knows, I might still be doing it.

Choose wisely, and as always, I wish you luck in your endeavors.