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You have permission to publish this article electronicallyor in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines areincluded. A courtesy copy of your publication would beappreciated - send to: GregReid@AlwaysGood.comWake Up to the Life You LoveWhile speaking at a San Diego university recently, I wasfortunate that I was not asked to leave the stage. You see, Ichose to share with the students in my audience some frighteningstatistics. I announced that, while many would receive theirdegrees, few – very few – would end up pursuing careers in theirchosen field. At this point, the faculty began giving me dirtylooks.I went on to say that, while most students were there to pursue adream, the dream they were chasing was not their own. Manystudents enter college to live up to the expectations of family,friends, and society. They’ve been told they should become anaccountant, lawyer, doctor or teacher because of the great futureand financial gain. In trying to do what others think they shoulddo rather than following their individual passions, they rarelycontinue along the same path once they leave campus.Instead, I painted a different sort of picture. Using anoff-the-wall example to illustrate my point, I asked each of themto imagine that he or she really wanted to become a banjo player.I said, "What if you took the same period of time and energypursuing that dream, your dream, your passion? What if you beganas an apprentice at a banjo shop, and then worked hard to learneverything about banjos? After four to six years, the same timeyou would have spent earning a degree that you would not useanyway, you would instead have become an authority on banjos. Areal banjo aficionado. Know why?""Because you’d be following your passion," I continued. "Youwould become captivated by the topic, and the pursuit of thisgoal would no longer feel like work, as much as it would be apart of who you are. Staying up late reading and learningeverything there is to know about banjos, listening to old songsand then creating new ones would not be a chore; it would becomeyour joy, because you’d be doing what you love."Now here’s the best part. There will always be a call forauthorities in any area. So no matter if your pursuit is towardplaying the banjo, inventing new ice cream flavors, ordiscovering the latest medical breakthroughs, there will alwaysbe a demand for your services, thus creating success in yourchosen field of endeavor.This is where true happiness and fulfillment comes in: gettingpaid to do what you enjoy most while living the life you love.Because . . .When you do what you love, and love what you do, you’ll havesuccess your whole life through!-------
