I think when a person turn’s 21, the automatic assumption is that you have to go real hard real fast without holding back at all. Just party. I mean, not just 21^st’s but every birthday for most people my age, is like that, it almost seems like it’s the one day of the year that their problems just don’t matter. I kind of wish I was like that.

I turned 21 on Saturday. For the rest of my life I will be considered an adult. It sucks because I never really thought I could enjoy myself as a kid, I was always worried about what was in store. That’s pretty much why I started writing. For an hour or so I could just stop thinking and express, just take a breath and write a story.

You see I love going out with friends, drinking and having a good time, but being a little down lately I decided I needed to really focus on something a little more important. My future. I haven’t really set out goals for myself, I never really needed to, and my life played out in such a way that I didn’t need to have a clear picture ahead. It was fine for about two years but before I knew it I was suddenly a couple of days out from being 21, and no idea what I was going to do for the rest of my life.

Most of my heroes were passionate people; they adored their craft and in some cases let it kill them. That was what their soul needed. Muhammad Ali fought Parkinson’s disease and lived with it for a long time. An obvious side effect of years of boxing. When he passed earlier this year, I felt ashamed. I was never going to meet him, nor did I feel like I was living up to someone who was supposed to be inspired by him so much. It was the same with Freddie Mercury, the guy was a revolution, and even though I enjoy his music and idolise him, I never really felt like I was doing him justice. You see these people are the reason I stopped thinking about unnecessary things and why I continue to write to this day. I love what I do, so why not pursue it like they did. Who’s to say I wont make it, all I have to do is ask, Why not? It’s the question that geniuses ask. Why cant you inspire and help people, why cant you teach and entertain and why cant you just love what you do, so much so that it becomes your life.

I stopped feeling bad about not doing anything; I still wish that I had the same opportunities that I have now. I wish that someone gave me a chance to prove myself, and maybe just maybe, I would’ve gotten started sooner. But in the end I cant blame other people because to be great you need to want it, you need to really act on it. There is trying but there is also doing.

I’m choosing to make a more assertive decision with how my life is going to turn out. Too long have I listened to the selfish nature of other people, I choose to be creative and innovative. Because why can’t I have the same effect as Ali or Mercury, why can’t you do the same? Its hard and tough, your emotions get the better of you and your abilities are constantly tested, but with every step comes a new experience, a new way of looking at things, a little closer to what you want to be. It doesn’t have to be writing, or business or fitness, its whatever you choose to do.

I remember watching an episode of ‘How I met your mother’. In it Ted’s future wife meets someone who encourages her to pursue a goal that she’s always wanted to achieve. And that every decision she made had to be in service to that goal. Those decisions begin as soon I finish writing this, and for you, as soon as you finish reading this. Being proactive and assertive are all major keys to success. But one thing that cannot be easily learnt is to be fearless. To know that time is fleeting and without giving it your all, you’re merely wasting time.

Don’t stop and don’t give up. Because you’re never quite finished unless you die broke and leave the world better then how you found it.