The Only Consistent Thing in Life is Change
Lost or Growing? The truth about finding your path
Life is constant iteration.
Something I’ve learned in my short existence on this spinning planet is that nothing is certain.
I’m not talking about religion or science—I’m talking about our paths in life.
When you’re in high school and heading into college, you think that once you get into college, everything will line up. You’ll find your partner. You’ll get a job right out of school. You’ll stay in that job the rest of your life, move up the corporate ladder, become successful, earn a lot of money, and buy the car you dreamed about back in high school. When you’re dating your partner, you tell each other you’ll have the two kids you talked about, and that life will go according to plan.
But the further I get in life, the more I realize the only thing consistent is that life changes.
Medical expenses, random emergencies, deaths in the family, job changes—it’s all part of what makes life life.
What I’ve come to realize is that in order to be successful, to grow, and to improve yourself and your life, you have to accept that change is inevitable—and you have to continually iterate.
I look at my coworkers, I talk to people, and there’s a common theme among those who move up in life, the ones who earn more, the ones in positions I admire: they are always growing. They are always learning.
When I first started out after college, trying to find my footing in my career, I thought something was wrong with me. I was always trying something new. I always had a new plan, a new project, a new idea to experiment with. I felt frustrated. I felt like I was pivoting too much. I worried that I was annoying the people around me because I was always onto the next thing.
The truth is, I think that’s the best way to live life.
We have to continually learn.
We have to continually try new things.
We have to continually iterate on what we know.
That includes learning—and sometimes unlearning.
The path of life isn’t linear.
It’s taking a step, looking around, adjusting, and taking another step.
It’s a constant zigzag of growth.
And when you look back, you’ll realize that zigzag was the only way forward.
So if you feel like you’re lost—maybe you’re not.
Maybe you’re just taking the zigzag approach that every successful life requires.
Because I promise you: when you look back, you’ll realize that all of those steps, all of those pivots and changes, led you to where you are now—and led you to a better version of yourself.
When I left college, I was working as a material handler in a warehouse, getting up at four in the morning to spend hours in the cold unloading trucks, followed by mindless hours running machines.
Four years later, I walk into a nice office and manage social media marketing for a soon-to-be billion-dollar company.
I go home, and in my free time, I work with CEOs and business professionals who are also building their businesses.
When I look back at the last four years, it’s a mess of zigzags and changes.
But every single step led to growth.
Every pivot mattered.
So don’t underestimate your path.
It all makes sense eventually.
Too many of us have an expectation that “things will settle down soon.” Nope. Get used to the chaos and learn to navigate it with enthusiasm and joy and a smile.