Life Is Not Linear

I always thought in a linear way A leads to B. And if B is C, A also leads to C. I looked at appearances, first thoughts, and made a lot assumptions. But my thoughts didn’t serve a useful purpose. In fact, they served no purpose at all. Instead of thinking, I followed convention. I let others do the thinking for me.

Most of us are like that. For example, I thought I would never have to worry about having a job if I got my college degree. I honestly believed that until I was about 26 years old. I figured out the hard way that nothing is guaranteed in life and that you have to work hard to earn money.

And that making money has nothing to do with your degrees. If I had to pick another predictor of career success I would say it’s skills. The better you are at something, the more value you can provide to others, and the more money people are willing to pay in exchange for your value.

Also, achieving a goal never happens linearly. Most of us believe there’s a straight line from where you are to where you want to be. Let’s say your goal is to start a business so you can have more freedom in your life. That was always my goal. I thought I would just work on it until I achieved it. But that’s not how it worked out. I had to take a lot of detours.

I worked for many other people in between. I also started businesses that failed. Understanding that life is not linear helps us to change the way we think. Along the way, I got discouraged a lot and almost quit. Now, I realize that things often don’t go according to plan. That helps me to think of backup plans or alternative options to get closer to my goals.

Another personal goal of mine was to invest in real estate. When I lived in London and Amsterdam, that was difficult for me because I didn’t have enough capital to get started. So instead of putting a lot of pressure on myself to make more money and sacrifice the quality of my life, I started looking elsewhere.

After researching growing real estate markets, I ended up in my hometown. Prices were low, I knew a lot of people, the population was increasing, and the city invested a lot in new businesses and education. Two months after I decided to look elsewhere, I bought my first deal there. The point is that there are multiple ways to achieve your goals. Also, if everyone is doing one thing, that often means you shouldn’t.