Marie: Hey, it’s Marie Forleo and you are watching MarieTV, the place to be
to create a business and life you love, and this is Q&A Tuesday.
Today’s question comes from Myriah and she writes:
Dear Wonderful Marie,
Here's the sitch.
I'm in my mid 30’s (God help me how did that happen) and took a huge risk in my mid
20’s to pursue what I always wanted: to live in Europe and turn my scientific career
into one focused on mainstream media.
And then, what was wonderful became a nightmare – which included the death of my boss, and
my work environment became extremely toxic.
I left, encouraged by all to take a position back in North America for a prestigious government
agency.
Looking back, I realize I never wanted this new job but now I'm here and hating it.
I should have listened to my heart and volunteered for Habitat for Humanity in Malaysia instead.
I would have had NO money but been so happy.
If I leave now, the people who hired me have a lot of clout and could make sure I never
work in this field again.
How can I reconcile my true calling and do what’s right for me with possibly destroying
some very influential connections?
Thanks so much,
Warmest, Myriah
This is an awesome question, something all of us can relate to.
We’ll find ourselves at crossroads in our own life and we can often struggle with.
Do we take the safe road or do we follow our heart, which can often feel a lot riskier,
at least in our minds.
There are two important things I want to talk about today with you.
The first is about burning bridges and what I want to tell you is a tweetable:
“What's highest and best for you is always what's highest and best for everyone around
you.”
I guaranteed that by hating your job, you are not doing your influential connections
any favors.
In fact, you're probably doing more harm to your reputation than if you left.
Telling the truth always win.
As it relates to leaving your job, of course you got to do this in the right way and take
full responsibility for what you're about to do.
It’s one thing to send your boss a text like “I'm going to Malaysia to build houses.
Peace in your crease.”
It’s another to set up a proper meeting and really co-create a game plan so you're
not leaving everybody in a lurch.
The second and more important thing I want to talk about today is a crucial test that'll
help you make the right decisions every time, especially when they're huge decisions just
like this one.
One of the first things you said is “I'm in my mid 30’s, how did that happen?”
It happened because it happens.
The next thing you know, you're going to be saying “oh my god, I'm in my 60s, how did
that happen?”
You got to realize as you get older, time goes by faster and faster, and before you
know it, you're going to be 80 like that.
Here's what you got to do: you got to sit yourself down right now and do the 10-year
test.
Ask yourself 10 years from now will you regret not doing this, whether it’s moving to Malaysia
or changing careers or starting your own business.
Really imagine your future self; you 10 years from now.
Will you regret not following your heart?
I’ll tell you one thing you will regret: not moisturizing.
Trust me.
You're welcome.
But back to the big things.
I did the 10-year test when I was 25 and trying to figure out if I should pursue dance as
a profession.
You got to realize I was broke, I had hardly any dance training and sadly 25 is over the
hill in the dance world so I sat myself down and I said “Marie, when you're 35, will
you regret not having gone for this whole hip-hop thing?”
In a nanosecond, my answer was “hell yes, I’ll regret it.”
In that moment, all wishy washiness went away; I got focused and I kick some serious dance
ass.
Best decision of my life, and yet another opportunity to show you this.
But seriously, for the love of all things holy, trust me when I say, life is short and
it’s getting short by the minute.
You must do the thing you're dreaming off and you must do it now.
I believe we all have a direct line to the divine and the call comes through our heart.
Know this coming from someone who takes a lot of risks, what you can produce in 10 years
will absolutely astound you but you have to start now.
The other thing is I have never ever ever met anyone who’s regretted following their
heart.
That was my A to your Q. I hope it helps.
Now I would love to hear from you.
Any big decisions on the table?
If so, do the 10-year test in the comments below.
Tell us 10 years from now what will you regret not doing or creating or starting.
Or if you want to do something else, tell us about a time in your life when you made
a really big decision and followed your heart.
As always, the very best discussions happen after the episode over at MarieForleo.com
so go there and leave a comment now.
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Thank you so much for watching and I’ll catch you next time on MarieTV.