A fork in the road.

Another world exists in our minds along with a parallel universe where we come out the winners every time, whether it be for business or personal gain. We are fascinated by what could be and what might be, if only we did things differently.

So why don’t we do things differently? Why are you still working that job you wanted to leave last year? Why are you still hanging around with that loser when all your friends want to push him off a cliff? Maybe you need to be thinking more about your options and thinking critically about what could be?

Standing at that fork in the road, along with a Walter Mitty mindset of being Richard Gere and saving the heroine in the last scene can sometimes trap us in daydreams we never wake up from. Before you know it, you are close to long service leave and the handcuffs are tighter than ever.

Steve Jobs stands in front of his mirror everyday and asks himself the same question, “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” If his answer is “No” for too many days in a row, he knows he needs to change something.

Pretty confronting for most of us who don’t even have time for a coffee in the morning. So are we using other things such as time constraints and work stresses to hide from the hard questions? Mortgages and car payments seem to drive us hard towards goals that may not matter in the end. The point isn’t to end up with the most toys but to feel good about ourselves and what we do. To that end, the most important components to a rich life are often continued learning and serving a purpose.

This is not about New Year’s resolutions for the tuck shop arms or the extra notch in the belt that wasn’t there last year. It’s about getting outside of yourself and being satisfied with your direction, your milestones, your relationships and your future. If you aren’t satisfied, then do a Steve Jobs and change things.

So try not to look at the fork in the road with dollars in your eyes or personal gain but how you can make a difference to yourself and others. You might be surprised to find the dollars will follow you anyway.