Introduction
Do you feel like a square peg in a round hole sometimes? Do you feel like what you're doing is not really meant for you? Do you wonder how you ended up in your current situation? Did you choose any of these? Would you rather be doing something else entirely but don't know where to begin?
I wrote this book to make you think. It doesn't offer you ready-made answers, but it will hopefully make you ask yourself lots of questions. As we live our lives, we don't ask ourselves enough questions. We follow the lead of others because they seem to know what they're doing or, at least, that's what it looks like from our perspective. But everyone is learning as they go, following someone else's lead.
Along the way, you may lose track of who you really are. You mistake your identity for your job. Deep down, however, you know something isn't right. You were not meant to be doing this.
Sometimes you dream about leading a very different life. Maybe you even have a plan to switch gears. You've been saving money to one day, finally, take the leap and go live the life you want. You tell yourself: "I just need to stick a little longer, and then I will leave this behind me." But you never do.
Been there, done that. Trust me, I get you. We get attached to our dreams, and we don't want to spoil them. An idealized life that will eventually be yours is a cozy refuge to escape an unpleasant reality. It is a psychological or emotional crutch that distracts you from the fact that you cannot metaphorically walk by yourself. The crutch may be so effective that you don't even realize it's there.
But then, all of a sudden, you notice the crutch. Once you see it, it's really hard to unsee it. You try to ignore it but it gets increasingly more difficult to do over time. How did I get to this point? What am I doing? If you ask yourself these questions, you already noticed the crutch.
As I said, I can't offer you answers. It's a bit cliché but only you can find your answers. It's a very personal journey of self-discovery. More cliché, I know. What I can do for you is ask you lots and lots of questions. Actually, I want you to ask yourself lots and lots of questions. I don't know which questions, if any, will do the trick for you. Maybe none will, maybe you don't like any of them. The only way to know is to try them out.
This is an opinionated book and it offers my own perspective on the subject. Although I may refer to my own experience throughout the main text, I kept most of my personal story as a series of asides completely separate from it. Keep in mind that I am not a psychologist nor a trained counselor. I won't be justifying my views on the grounds of one theory or another. I am writing the book I wish my past self had at his disposal. Perhaps it can be useful to you too and I truly hope it will.
