Our Western society, especially in the United States but to some extent also in Canada, worships entrepreneurs. We love a good rags-to-riches story, and why not? People who have built successful businesses have usually (not always – some were born into wealth) worked extremely hard and overcome obstacles most of us would not be willing to face. Their most important characteristic is that they really desired to build this business, and that’s my topic for today – desire.

I know a young person who is an extremely talented musician, but has no desire to make that her career. Some people might consider that a waste – surely if you can do something really well that most people don’t, you should do it. But what if you don’t want to?

There can be a lot of guilt involved if you were born into a family where certain things are expected, and you don’t want to do them. Even worse, maybe you thought you wanted to do what was expected of you, and you did it, and then found you didn’t want it after all. Look at all the time and money you spent on this career that you no longer want. You were so privileged, and maybe you took on lots of debt, and now you are being ungrateful. Shame!

If you’ve ever had this painful conversation with yourself, I want to grant you absolution right now. It’s OK not to want it, whatever it may be – a business, a career, a degree, a path in life. It’s OK to sit in stillness and go within, and listen for that still, small voice telling you what you really want and need to do in the world. Usually we are too busy with the noise in our head to hear that voice. You may have to spend a lot of time undoing that guilt and grief and noise before you can hear, but trust that it’s there.

Have you ever had that conversation with yourself? I’d love to know what you think.