“He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it.” – Douglas Adams
We’ve talked a lot about Life Strategy this week, but perhaps the most important thing to say about it is this:
If you don’t create your own life strategy, it will be created for you.
That’s not red pill or black pill or purple pill, it’s simply the state of things as they are.
Society has already laid down the tracks your life is grooved to run upon, and the momentum of the masses will happily carry you from cradle to grave without so much as a bathroom break.
It’s so easy it’s almost scary:
Relax, don’t think too hard, follow the rules and do as you’re told, and before you know it you wake up with hair-plugs and crow’s feet, wondering who’s life you’re living.
Scarier still:
Breaking free of the herd to follow your deeper calling is, in most cases, a young-man’s game.
(see disclaimer in PS…)
It takes serious heat to reach escape velocity, and fire tends to fade with age as we collect attachments and responsibilities and bladder control issues.
Which brings us to our final principle of this series:
7. Take creative control of your life, now.
If you want something, go and get it.
If you don’t like the direction you’re heading in, change course.
Nobody’s hands are on the steering wheel but yours:
Not your parents, not your teachers, not a bearded white guy in the sky or a secret society of super-elite who hide behind invisible curtains pulling imaginary strings.
Your life is yours to live, however the hell you want to live it, and the only thing stopping you is the idea that it isn’t.
I know it’s not easy:
The forces at play are strong, and taking control of the steering wheel is no guarantee you won’t crash.
The balance between courage and recklessness is exceedingly difficult to strike…
(no, you probably shouldn’t drop out and tell your parents to shove it — strategy means strategize)
…So I’ll offer you one last piece of advice:
A bonus principle for Life Strategy that might be most important of all…
8. Find a mentor.
The value of this cannot be overstated:
I stumbled backwards into finding six different mentors at various stages of my teens, 20’s and 30’s…
Each of them appearing exactly when I needed them, each of them radically accelerating my progress within weeks of our first meeting.
They not only changed my life, a few of them damn near saved it multiple times, and I shudder to think of where I’d be without them.
The right mentor can save you years, decades, or even a lifetime of consequences from making the wrong move, at the wrong time…
…And, can open up a world of possibility that simply wasn’t available to you previously.
Anyway, that’s my pitch.
Whether you choose a mentorship program like The Path, or an in-person guide:
1. Choose someone who has actually done what you are aiming to do.
(ie. not a business coach who’s first business is business coaching)
2. Choose someone you can trust.
(ie. not an Andrew Tate knockoff or a Skool “masculinity coach” — a skilled adult)
And, if you’re between the ages of 18-35…
Committed to your growth and development…
Serious about executing your life strategy…
And, ready for higher-level guidance:
3. Choose The Path.
We’ll be happy to have you with us.
– T
P.S. Disclaimer:
Here’s what “following your deeper calling” doesn’t mean:
Living the 4 hour work-week, firing your boss, drop-shipping designer dog collars, selling your kidneys for crypto, or any other pop-culture life hack going viral on TikTok right now.
The point is not to do something “different” than the norm, the point is to find your thing.
If that means making an honest living at a 9 to 5, doing work you believe in while providing a safe, stable, happy life for your family — respect.
If that means building a business or becoming a healer or sending humanity to Mars — equal respect…
…As long as the calling is yours.
P.P.S. To catch up on earlier parts of this series, click here.
(the series begins with “Practical Principles of Life Strategy (age 18-35)”)
