My Reality Check Bounced! - Jason Ryan Dorsey [0]
TITLE PAGE
DEDICATION
BEFORE YOU BUY THIS BOOK, TAKE YOUR REALITY CHECKUP!
1 STAND UP FOR YOUR LIFE!
2 BREAK FREE
3 LIGHT YOUR FIRE
4 UNLEASH OPPORTUNITY
5 CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
6 SECRETS TO BUILDING YOUR REAL-WORLD DREAM TEAM
7 WHAT’S PAST IS POWER
8 CHECK YOUR EXCUSES AT THE DOOR
9 THE FEAR FACTOR
10 LIFE IN THE BALANCE
11 CUTTING CORNERS
12 FIND OUT WHAT YOU’RE MADE OF
SUGGESTED RESOURCES
READER DISCUSSION GUIDE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JASON RYAN DORSEY
MORE PRAISE FOR MY REALITY CHECK BOUNCED!
COPYRIGHT
This book is dedicated to the
courageous twentysomethings
who bravely leave the paved path
to pursue their authentic path.
BEFORE YOU BUY THIS BOOK, TAKE YOUR REALITY CHECKUP!
Put a checkmark next to the statement that best describes you.
* * *
LIVING YOUR DREAM LIFE
NOT WHERE YOU’D THOUGHT YOU’D BE
Financially independent with money in savings
Praying for 0 percent balance transfers
Volunteering to help those in need
Accepting free food at all times
Scaling Mount Everest
Staring at the walls of your cubicle
Thrilled you now fit into your skinny jeans
Telling yourself you’ll start that diet next week
In a loving relationship with your best friend
Dating losers who just aren’t into you
Putting your hard-earned degree to use
Wondering why you wasted so much time at school in the first place
Traveling the world on your company’s dime
Working overtime without pay
Living on your own
Living with twelve roommates
Feeling included, appreciated, and inspired
Yeah, not so much
Confident of your direction and purpose
Growing a tad bit disenchanted
* * *
1
STAND UP FOR YOUR LIFE!
* * *
We are all born unable to take care of ourselves. Living with meaning and purpose is a learned behavior.
* * *
REALITY-CHECK MOMENT—
THIS ISN’T WHAT I SIGNED UP FOR!
Tiffany, twenty-four, arrived distracted and anxious at the tiny coffee shop where we had agreed to meet. Despite her stylish business suit and expensive haircut and makeup, Tiffany had the look. I have seen it so often among twentysomethings in her situation. She was frustrated and disillusioned, wondering why her life just didn’t feel right.
Tiffany thought she’d done everything she was supposed to. She made dean’s list at her college and, after graduating, landed a great job. Now she was supposed to be spreading her wings, dating her true love, enjoying her career, and going on exciting adventures. Instead, the long hours and short tempers made her feel constantly on edge and insecure. She was asking herself the question about her place in life that haunts so many talented people in our generation: “Is this it?”
She felt trapped, stuck and confused. That’s why she called me. She heard from a mutual friend that I helped people like her find their way again.
Tiffany ordered a double latte, then she cautiously confessed: She wasn’t getting enough sleep. She didn’t have time for her friends, family, or love life. She’d stopped working out. She was smoking too much. She wanted more freedom and sense of purpose. Despite working in a busy office six and sometimes seven days a week, she felt alone and lost. At twenty-four years old, Tiffany felt she was running hard but going nowhere.
“I never imagined I’d be in this position,” she told me. “Maybe I was just young and naive, but I thought everything would fall into place and I’d love my life. It hasn’t and I’m not. I’m stressed out all the time. I don’t want to go to work; some days I don’t even want to get out of bed. It’s depressing. And I don’t know what to do about it. I feel so confused. Nothing in college prepared me for this. Now I keep asking myself, Is this what I worked so hard for?”
Tiffany’s reality check had bounced.
WELCOME TO THE REAL WHIRLED
Tiffany’s not the only twentysomething who hasn’t cashed in on her real-world dreams. Are you no longer a kid, but still unsure where you’re headed or what your life’s all about? Do you constantly find yourself settling for the safe path,