Hopefully it doesn’t happen to you, but there might be a time in your life where you have to start all over again.

I’m not talking about retaking a class you failed or moving to a new house across town. I’m talking about failing so hard that you literally have to start your life over again.

Whether that’s a new career change or even an entirely new degree, there are times where you have no choice but to do something new. And as much as it may hurt in the moment, sometimes it takes those epic failures to realize the path we’re now taking is what we were destined all along.

A story you might’ve heard of is that of Vera Wang. Today, she’s a world-renowned fashion designer. But before that? A figure skater.

As a child and up until her 20’s, all Wang loved to do was figure skate. Her goal in life was to compete and win the Olympics. And in 1968, she almost got her wish.

There, she competed at the U.S. Figure Skating Championship which would determine if she’d be chosen to move forward to represent the U.S. in the Olympics. She did a phenomenal job that day, but when it came to the announcement, she missed the cut.

Heartbroken, Wang didn’t know what to do. All her life she practiced and worked with the idea that figure skating was all she’d ever do.

Knowing she’d never be able to compete in the Olympics, she decided to make a drastic turn in her life. To start over so to say. It was at the age of 23 she decided to get into design, and quickly be named as one of the youngest fashion editors in magazine history.

It was a leap that she took—a complete left-turn from her original plan—but despite working for the last 15 years as a skater, she knew it was time for something new.

And that goes for everyone in life. You could work towards something for years and it just doesn’t work out the way you envisioned. And as scary as that might sound, I think we should remember life isn’t meant to be lived doing one thing anyway. We all live long enough to try different things, see different places, and make new experiences. Yeah, it might devastate you in the beginning, but when it comes time to look back at it, it might have been the very thing that made life worth living.

Until next time,
Isaiah Taylor

Dive Deeper

What I’m Currently Reading - I’m now reading Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. A bestselling book on the perfect morning routine that you should adopt all before 8am.

Quote Of The Week - “Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.” — Earl Nightingale