Stephen Colbert says there's no secret society to guide your life, so stop waiting for permission. Evan Carmichael breaks down how to build your own path: pick one word that defines your values, combine your weird mix of interests into something nobody else can do, and that becomes your edge.
Good morning, Believe Nation! Today's message is Create Your Own Path. Over to you, Stephen Colbert.
I wake up every morning, espresso keep me going. While traditional paths may seem harder to find, that also means that you may learn sooner than most generations the hard lesson that you must always make the path for yourself. There is no secret society out there that will tap you on the shoulder one night and show you the way. Because the true secret is your life will not be defined by the society that we have left you. To paraphrase Robert Bolt, society has no more idea of what you are than you do. Because ultimately it has only your brains to think with. Every generation must define itself and so make the world that suits itself. So if you must find your own path, and we have left you no easy path, then decide now to choose the hard path that leads to the life and the world that you want.
I think too many people are trying to live someone else's path. You're trying to follow your parents' path. You're trying to be the next Michael Jordan or the next Wayne Gretzky or the next Steve Jobs. You're trying to be the next somebody else. Where if your goal is to be the next somebody else, you're always going to fall short. You can't out-Steve Steve. It's not happening. It's not going to be possible. So you will always fall short if you are trying to follow somebody else's path. The key is to create your own unique path. That's where you're going to stand out and that's where the magic is going to happen. You already are unique. You already are the first and only version of you that will ever walk this planet. That has already happened. But you're not the best you yet. You're the unique you, you're the first you, but you're not the best you yet. And that's where you can pull from people. You can pull from Jobs, and you can pull from Gates, and you can pull from Winfrey, and you can pull from LeBron. You can pull from all these people to make you the best version of you and help you go off on your path. And it starts by understanding what your one word is, living your life on purpose, knowing what your values are, and having the self-awareness to create something that is important. And then by embracing the genius of the ant, where the unique talents that you have get mashed up together in a way that nobody else can execute on. And it often comes by, I want to do this, or I want to do this, or I want to do this. And you've got 2 or 3 or 4 things that you don't know which direction to take. And the real answer is to smash all of those things together because that's the unique thing that only you can do. Anybody can be a banker, anybody can be a salsa dancer, anybody can be a gamer, anybody can be a fill-in-the-blank. But when you start combining those things together and then combine it with your one word, which is your value system, that's something that nobody else can do. It's something nobody else can touch. Now you're off creating your own path and being the best version of you, and that's where your ultimate success, happiness, wealth, and impact will come. Create your own path. So the question of the day today is, I'm curious, how are you creating your own path? What are you doing to create your own path and ignore the naysayers and not have the temptation to just follow somebody else who's already done it? What's the unique path that you are on? Leave it in the comments below. I'm gonna join in the discussion. I also want to give a quick shout out to Neil Kerr from Australia. Thank you, Neil, for picking up a copy of my book. Really, really means a lot to me. So thank you guys again for watching. I believe in you. I hope you continue to believe in yourself and whatever your one word is. I'll see you soon.
