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Don't settle for the first thing that falls into your lap
Thursday, 19 July 2007
We're all dissatisfied with our lives to some extent. Whether it's in our relationships, career, health or living standard, everyone wishes somehow that things could be a bit better. Despite this basic truth, there's no doubt that some people are more satisfied with their lot than others.
What separates the mostly content from the terribly dissatisfied? I think generally it's how quickly they made the big decisions in their lives. Often, when I come across someone who feels they aren't getting what they deserved, it's because they settled for the first thing that fell in their lap and looked okay.
So I meet people who never left the town they were born in. They say they're satisfied, but when they meet someone who's lived overseas or migrated somewhere more exciting, they often get a wistful look in their eyes.
"Why can't that be me who spent years living in London and holidaying in Europe?" they think. "Why wasn't I the one who lived in the Rocky Mountain's snowfields for a few seasons?"
And then they'll come out with a hundred reasons why that's the case. They've got the mortgage, the job, the family and all sorts of other commitments at home. Because they didn't look much further than down the street for the raw materials to build their lives from, they ended up in the same place forever.
The classic symptom of this is the man who marries the first woman who shows interest in him. Frustrated with the disinterest of women in their younger years, such men are over the moon when they finally meet someone who seems to like them. Yet, five years down the line with a whole bunch of commitments on his plate and a wife who suddenly doesn't seem such a wonderful fit, such men feel their lives are slipping away from them.
The career market is another area where people make this mistake. They accept the first job that comes along and suddenly find they're forty and no-one else will employ them. I'm sure you've met many such people in your life.
Remember that the world is filled with opportunity. Yes, some of it takes work to figure out how to exploit, but we all know it's there. If you don't make the effort to become adept at extracting the gold the world has to offer, and instead settle for your first lucky strike, then you can hardly complain when things don't work out.
Don't settle for the first thing that falls into your lap. Instead, take the time to explore life and figure out what's available to you. Put in the effort required to learn how to open up a world of options to yourself.
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