I just read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and it really got me thinking. The point of the book is great- part of it is that there are people in this world who seem born to excel beyond all others. These people (the “outliers”), are not just lucky to have their brains, they have also had numerous instances in their lives where opportunities were presented to them that put them in a position to excel as much as they have. If we start to study these people and pinpoint those moments that gave them their breaks, we can use that knowledge to provide more opportunities for others, raising everyone. This is not to say we would have a generation of Bill Gateses if we replicated his opportunities for all children, because there still needs to be an innate ability to recognize and capitalize on those opportunities, which not everyone does.

I did feel like there was one point missing though. The fact is that every single person’s life is built on these moments. One thing leads to another thing and that leads to something else and so on. I’m not an outlier but I can trace my current activities to plenty of matters of chance- would I be with Chad today (or even have moved to LA for that matter) if I had not decided to leave for the canoe race in San Diego by myself, hours before any of my teammates? Would I be working at the AFM if Keegan and I had not happened to be in the same class at LAFS? Would I have ever met the wonderful ladies of AMediaVision Productions if I hadn’t had so many members of my family working for the Arizona State Senate? These kinds of questions are endless, for every single life.

It might be interesting to examine my life more in-depth to see what situations outside my control may be effecting the path I am currently on (such as, what if I wasn’t trying to launch my career in the middle of a recession?), but unless I can use that to direct my next step, it sounds like a big waste of time. Education, experience and perseverance I think are what the doctor is ordering right now.

So, what is my next step? Love Story is obviously coming up, but I mean bigger. More often than I like, I get this awful sense that I am floating around, depending on lucky opportunities provided by other people to get me to the next level, when I should be creating my own. If I am going to do everything I want to do then I need a plan.

-Peace-