Lessons from a mountaintop: Lesson 3

Visiting Paris this summer was on the bucket list for our family.

Build towards Your End Goal–Not Someone Else’s

Before you commit to a path ask yourself:
Why are we going in a specific direction? Why this path?

There are more routes than you realize. And every factor matters in reaching your goals.

What will work to get you to your goal may not be the blueprint for the next person trying to reach that same goal.

Like a science experiment, you can end up with drastically different results by changing just three things:

• Your starting point
• The materials you use
• The time you have

Are you starting with the same ingredients? Probably not.
Do you have the same time, tools and circumstances? Probably not.
Do you need to throw away everything you have copy theirs? Definitely not.

Think of it like building a house. Following someone else’s blueprint only works if you're working with the same materials, land and tools, otherwise, you’re going to end up with a whole different house.
But maybe that house ends up being better than what you originally imagined?

Ask yourself honestly:
What is your real goal? What was theirs?
What does success actually look like for you?

If your idea of success is just a number in a bank account, I challenge you to to go deeper.
Is it freedom? Security? Impact? Travel? Peace?

Because once you define what success means to you, you’ll realize the “successful person’s” path may not take you there at all.

Success is not just a number in a bank account. It's personal, and it's layered.

Filtering out what you see every day as the “successful way” will help you discern your own path to your own version of success.
And it might challenge how you define success altogether.

We are creatures of copying. We mimic each other—even when it leads us down destructive paths.

Sometimes you may think, “Well, I don’t have their starting materials, so I’ll never be successful.”

But here is the truth and Lesson 3:
You don’t need someone else’s blueprint to live a successful life.

You can absolutely build your own path, with whatever starting materials you have and still be successful.

And once you understand this, nothing can stand in your way.
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Because your path is the way to your goal.
And you are building your future—not someone else’s.

Visiting the Louvre was on my list. Pictured: my family at the Louvre