Sometimes it can feel like all of the internet is leading us to believe that everyone is an overnight success and has “made it” more than ourselves. This illusion also makes it seem that success comes easily and is all about “faking it till we make it” or that the secret isn’t really just about a lot of hard work, baby steps, brave leaps and pivots, big mistakes, heaps of self doubt and a lot of forging ahead with a belief in something bigger than yourself. Certainly none of it is a linear or an immediately logical path, or at least it hasn’t been for me.

Since I’ve personally had to take a lot of steps to get from there to here – and it’s still very much a work in progress – I thought I would share, in a chart, some of that elbow grease and meandering that over many years has lead me from there to here in the past twenty years or so. It makes me hopeful for the next leg of my journey, however long that may be, knowing that it will be full of rich experiences, many of which I can’t even imagine at this point.

Read if you dare, print out if you want, make your own version with your own markings and choices. Most of all I hope this inspires to give yourself more grace on your own path to wherever you are headed. I hope it allows you to enjoy your journey with more perspective that the dips and swells are all part of a life well lived. Because really, it’s not about the place where we end up, but how we got there that has the most value to our lives. I’ve made two versions, one with my personal path, the second a more humorous perspective. You can click on either image to see them larger and to open in their own window and print out at home. Enjoy.

Lastly, if you do decide to make your own version, I’d love to see. 🙂