All The Answers to Everything You Want in Life
My last day visiting San Francisco, I decided to dodge the rain and head for the giant public library. I know it sounds nerdy, but have you ever gone to a city's main public library? The architecture and interior is often quite beautiful. LA has a really great one in the downtown neighborhood. (And remember when Carrie almost got married in the one in NYC??) The pictures to the right are from the San Francisco Public Library that I visited. Pretty great, right?
So, I decided to check my two favorite library sections: Graphic Design and Business. As I'm browsing the books on finance, it occurred to me: everything you want in life can be found in this library. If you think about it, whatever you want to be or accomplish in your life has most likely already been done. If you want to be a teacher, a fashion designer, an actor, or you want to create wealth, find cures, or break records, it has all been done by somebody.
This should be reason for celebration. Break out the champagne and noise blowers! Or whatever else you crazy kids do to party these days. Why, you ask? Because if everything you want to do has already been done, that means someone can tell you how to do it. The path has already been paved. Read the success stories and study their choices. All the answers are out there for you. It's up to you to find them and follow them.
Let's say you want to go to the Olympics for a sport. Guess what? Other people have already done it! So find the people who have made it to the Olympics, and study their path. How did they prepare? Where did they prepare? What connections did they make to get closer to the Olympics? How did they emotionally handle all the pressure with the ups and downs? Read biographies, websites, blogs, interviews. My friend Imani Hakim recently starred in the inspiring Gabby Douglas Story. (BTW, Imani is amazing so you should totally check it out on Lifetime.) This little girl dreamed of going to the Olympics. She slowly discovered the tools she needed to get there. She insisted on working with the right coach, even if it meant moving thousands of miles away from home. She saw what worked for others, and created a similar path for herself. The answers were there, it was up to her to follow them. If you really can't find enough information, email the person. Kindly ask for words of wisdom. If someone else has already accomplished what you want to accomplish, emulate their path. It worked for them, why won't it work for you? The greatest part about it is that you can avoid some of the mistakes they may have made along the way. You get the beauty of the second time around.
All of the answers to your goals and dreams are floating around in this world. Make Google your new BFF. It's insanely easy to find what you're looking for. The hard part comes with the action. You can read all the books you want, but will you take action? Will you follow the answers you find? I think life is too short not to try.
So what does this have to do with LA Bound? Well, everything, really. Most people move to LA to accomplish some sort of dream. Many have dreams for the film industry, many just to create a fulfilling life in beautiful weather. While it's scary, facing the unknown, wondering if your LA dreams will ever come true, I want you to find solace in the fact that it really can all happen. It's just up to you to put in the work. So, go! Start! I dare you to search Google right now.