Your Most Important Journeys Will Not Come With a Map*

The thing is we all want certainty. 

We all want to know that the effort we are putting in will be worth it. 

That the time and money and sweat and blood and tears had some merit.

And that ultimately, it wasn't all for nothing.

But the truth is, that that isn't life. You won't know any of that for a fact.

The truth is all of your work might not yield what you expect. It might not hit the bullseye that you've so meticulously planned for. It might not deliver everything you want.

But then it might. The catch is that you won't know until you do.

Until you do.

You see, if it's a well trodden path you want to go down, something millions before you have done, then you won't have any such issues. The trail has already been blazed, so to speak. You just need to paint by numbers and follow the well trodden path.

But you won't change the world.

But if you want to create something different, to solve a problem no one has tackled (or tackled in the way you're thinking about), to produce real tangible change (at whatever level you're considering), then I'm afraid you won't have a map to follow.

There is no well trodden path. 

There is only your idea, your drive and, most importantly, your persistence. Only you.

In the face of adversity, the doubters, and circumstance.

Screw it. Do it anyway. 

Make your own map. In the end, you'll realize that your judgement - if it's fueled by the right intent - is your best guide anyway.

(*H/T to Seth Godin for the title.)