This morning I was listening to the latest EntrepreneurOnFire episode with John Lee Dumas. His guest, Ryan Holiday (The Obstacle is the Way) shared this success quotation:
“Some lack the fickleness to live as they wish and just live as they have begun.” – Seneca
I continued my walk thinking about the word “fickle” and what the quotation means. “Fickle” is normally a negative term, with the dictionary describing it as a person who is “changing frequently, especially as regards one’s loyalties, interests, or affection.”
But what about in real life – is it a negative or could it be positive? How many times have you seen a person who 
has been successful at something and so now they feel obligated to continue? How many college grads do you know who now feel stuck working in the field they studied even if their enthusiasm is long gone? I know plenty of attorneys, physicians, dentists and pastors who would dream about changing careers but feel trapped by virtue of their “education.”
What if we instead allowed ourselves to live our lives in chapters – where we attained success in something and then took the principles that helped us there into a new field we had discovered. With a change we never start over. Rather, we take the wisdom that got us that far and combine that with the passion and enthusiasm we feel for a new challenge.
Maybe it’s time for you to be “fickle.” To live as you wish rather than just as you have begun.
Here’s a link to a live seminar on Wisdom Meets Passion – Listen In
Great post Dan! I liked what you said about allowing ourselves to take the principles that helped us be successful in one area of life to use them to be successful somewhere else. Thanks for sharing.
I was fickle for too long, once I stopped, things happened!
I love that quote! Wow, what a great perspective – fickle is the new purposeful! I really believe what you said about change not necessarily being “starting over” but rather a culmination of the steps we have taken up until now. I know when I had been in retail for 8 years, not in the field I had studied in college, and not headed toward anything in particular, I felt angry at God. I felt He had led me into this dead-end area, and I was not ever going to be anything but a burned-out retail manager. But then I realized that every single skill I had learned over those 8 years – coaching athletes, management, communication, public speaking – positioned me perfectly for doing what I love doing now! Thanks for bringing up the idea of living as we wish instead of as we started!
Elyssa,
What a great example of bringing skills forward into a new season in your life! Personally, I love the fickleness of being able to adjust as I go along in order to live the life I wish and I know you and Joshua are making those realignments as well.
I agree! It definitely means going against the flow of the cultural path to the “American Dream” but the journey is an excellent one!
Dan: This is very timely. I too have stayed “stuck” where I started in my family’s business. The longer I stayed, the more stuck I felt and lower my self esteem and the more depressed and angry I got. I even had my mother tell me, “God put you here and this is where he wants you to stay.” I couldn’t help but think, “Really? When I have so many other skills?” I now know that
the feelings of being stuck, depressed, and uncomfortable was really a prompt to do something different with my skills. I’ve learned that the fact that my skills are not a good fit for my family’s company is not a failure of mine or of the company’s; it just is.
Maxine – well put. Those feelings are warning signs that something is out of line. I commend you on listening and responding to the message of your heart – and moving in a positive direction.
Great article Dan! Thank you. As a leadership coach for women who are finding their purpose & passion, an amazing thing happens when they finally start doing “what they were built to do.” Burdens are lighter (and in many cases lifted), purpose is clarified and there’s a new confidence they get when they finally say yes to themselves and decide to thrive. We serve an awesome God!
I love Seneca. That quote is very powerful to me, especially the part “and just live as they have begun.” The word “just” is a lament, a pronouncement of regret. I am quickly learning (okay, it took me almost 60 years) that the best way to live without regrets is to live without regrets. Let us all be fickle then and live as we wish. Great post.
Clark – you are blazing a path in your own life and as a coach toward breaking old patterns and creating a life without regrets
I definitely want to look back on my life someday and say: “I’m glad I tried ___________” instead of: “I wish I had done ________________.”
Kent – I think you’re doing that well. The last 8 years bear witness to the new things you were willing to try.