Creating a Life You Love...Before You're 30 and Eating Ice Cream On Your Couch Wondering Where It All Went Wrong
At 18, I fled my St. Louis homeland for a one-way ticket to the big leagues—a fancy "Politics and Values" program at the George Washington University. My parents were thrilled at my prestigious win, and having a savvy teen who didn't wear sweatpants to Thanksgiving dinner. But just a short year and a half later, this Midwest-girl was floundering amongst her east coast peers —living in oversized university sweatshirts after gaining 20+ lbs, and questioning whether I’d accidentally applied to college on acid. I went from an ambitious, first-class honors student to a bare-passing, puffy-eyed stoner, who spent most evenings playing beer pong instead of doing homework, and then dropped out with nary a word to my poor parents. Not good.
If only my 18-year-old self had grasped the keys of life vision work—the practice of getting stupid-clear on what lights your fire, then whipping those dreams into booty-kicking habits and goals. Maybe I could’ve navigated decisions about college, majors, mentors, and study abroad escapades without all the angsty, 3AM spirals over whether I’d end up as a parking attendant or one-woman reenactor of cats the musical under the freeway overpass.
Because as Tina Fey knows, you don’t want to blink and discover you’ve morphed into a 30-year-old sitting pants-less on the couch, flipping between Netflix and Seamless while wondering where all the years went. Especially not when teen rates of depression, anxiety and even suicide surge ever higher. Yet 70% of youth prematurely x-out career path dreams based on lack of experience, while nearly half of 18-25-year-olds confess uncertainty about their trajectory.
The good news? I’ve experienced firsthand how quickly mastering basic life design tools can wholly transform a lost teen’s path. I recently worked with an academically drowning girl who went from academic probation and a new scrip for Wellbutrin, to A’s, off the pharma, and a daily running habit, in just 3 months. She wrangled time management skills that elite athletes would envy, met a wonderful guy, nabbed a competitive internship, and got herself back into the college’s good graces.
And that, my young padawans, is precisely why I’ve decided to battle my terror of starting a business from scratch again. Because if I can shortcut even one promising teen from wandering aimlessly into a life of feline cosplay and cold pizza—or better yet, guide thousands toward embracing their best destiny—then sign this ‘old lady’ up. My vision? To continue learning from young go-getters, building kickass curriculum, providing community, mentorship, and inspiration for not just today but for decades to come.