Roadtrip Nation: A guide to discovering your path in life

I just read a good book that was recommended by Sunday Times. This book is call "Roadtrip Nation: A guide to discovering your path in life"

Here's what the book is about:

"Two guys Mike Marriner and Nathan Gebhard who had no idea what to do with their lives after college. All they've been exposed to were standard career paths like doctor and consultant - roads that didn't fit them at all. To see what else was out there, they took a roadtrip across the nation in a huge forty-foot RV to meet with people who had successfully defined their own paths in life - including the chairman of Starbucks, a lobstermanfrom Maine, the director of Saturday Night Live, the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic, the first female Supreme Court of Justice in US, the head stylist for Madonna, and the CEO of National Geographic Ventures. All told, 140 people candidly shared their stories abput how they got from college to the present, Mike and Nathan share the most compelling tales with you."

I had to say it was compelling indeed..I was hooked on it till the very last page. It was amazing to read how these people overcome the status quo to achieve what was truly meant for them. Their paths seem difficult and bleak at start, drenched with tears and sweat along the way and finally achieving success in their own definition after paying their dues.

What is success to you? How do you define success? When I ask this question to my peers, I get answers surrounding materialistic goal like lots of money, to make my parents feel proud of me, career advancement, getting recognition for outstanding achievement at work, to work for MNC/regional post to family oriented goals like finding a good husband or getting married before 30 (although this is often not declared as a goal openly).

Well these answers are sort of expected, how many of us really sit down to think this is what we really wanna do and whether the basis of choosing this is to earn money or out of passion? I mean what to do..we live in Singapore! Ha..but after reading this book, I find that this is a universal problem, following the status quo is a universal thing, which made me realise that man are made to follow because this is the easiest thing to do, that is why few people can sucessfully redefine the status quo because it is the ultimate challenge for mankind!

Well I used to be in it, setting goals like earning lots of $$ to buy big bunglows to house my family..nice cars etc, making waves in career and getting power so that I can sit above every soul in the office and made them report to me..and that was before university.

Today, after going through some physical and inner changes, I am amazed to find that I am no longer pursuing all these things..I realise that these are not what I really wanted. What I wanted was to do something that is true to my calling and passion, so that I can get 100% mentally, emotionally and physically involved at work..I mean how many of us can say that we are totally absorbed at work now and we have put 100% heart and soul into our jobs?

I am really inspired by people who have achieved that..be it a lobsterman, a dancer or the founder for Starbucks..these are the people who can finally be true to themselves and they never feel like work is a chore because work is play for them. That to me is happiness because the passion and the smile on the dancer's face when they are on the stage is the purest form of happiness. To be able to enjoy what I am enjoy and still have time for family and friends..that is the goal I am pursuing.

Ben Younger, the successful director of feature film Bolier Room who had come a long way to where he is today, quoted:

"I have friends who are truly unhappy now. They got married, had a couple of kids, and are locked down. It's not that they don't love their families but they just got into things so fast before they figured out what they wanted to be as individuals. I think you have to be happy before you commit to having a family and such a high level of giving to other people.

If you are not married and young, you should have more than one job. Have seven or eight. What's wrong with that? Until you get married, I say take a job and quit every six months and try something new."

You might think that this is a bold statement to make but come to think of it..how are we supposed to know what is it that we really wanna do unless we have a taste of it? How can we be so sure that the current banking/accountant/law firm job is truly what we want if we limit our working experiences to certain areas?

Here's something for your thoughts..

Roadtrip Nation Manifesto:

So, what do you want to do with your life?
"You should be a lawyer, a doctor, an accountant, a consultant...blah, blah, blah."
Everywhere you turn people try to tell you who to be and what to do with your life.
We call that the noise. Block it. Shed it.
Leave it for the conformists.
As a generation, we need to get back to focusing on individuality.
Self-construction rather than mass production.
Define your own road in life instead of travelling down someone else's.
Listen to yourself.
Your road is the open road. Find it.
Find the Open Road.