How to Live the Life of Your Dreams by driving the Rainbow Road

If you've ever played Mario Kart you will have experienced the ultimate test of precision and skill in the form of the track ‘Rainbow road’.

For those not familiar this is one of the most iconic and challenging tracks in the Mario Kart series.

It features tight winding curves, sharp turns, twists, loops and jumps. And there's basically no guard rails so falling off the edge of the track is inevitable, causing much frustration.

You see, the rainbow road is the path which leads to your goals in life.

I don’t mean the goals you are given by societal and cultural norms, I mean the real goals you envision from your true passions in life.

These are the passions that simply define who you really are.

These are the passions which are intertwined with your soul to the extent that no matter:

• Where in the world you were born
• Who you parents were
• Your social class, ethnicity, gender

You feel in your heart that these passions would exist within you regardless!

Why Passion Leads to Greatness

Passion leads to greatness because it has the power to overcome any obstacles or barriers that stand in your way.

Everyone has access to the rainbow road of life, but not everyone has the passion to actually drive on it.

This is because most people decide to conform to the accepted norms of society which in a lot of cases may suffocate their true passions.

We're well aware the rainbow road is not an easy path to drive and the risk of falling off is very high.

The problem is that without your passion you end up believing that falling off is fatal. You think you’ll be lost forever in the void.

So instead of trying to drive you just sit stationary in life and spectate other people drive past you.

Seeing other people fall off the edge only reinforces the belief that driving the rainbow road of your true passion is just too dangerous.

But what about the people who cruise past perfectly with no hesitation?

Are they just:

• Blessed with natural talent and skill?
• Incredibly lucky?
• Crazy?

No, they’re the same people that you watched fall off the edge on a previous lap. You just missed the part where they were air lifted back onto the track by their passion.

There’s no limit on how many laps you can do on the rainbow road. You have to fall off as many times as it takes to learn how to cruise perfectly round.

Yes you lose some time on each fall but you’re still winning as the majority of people aren’t even in the race they’re sat stationary spectating.

People don't want to be seen failing

Their ego gets in the way, convincing them failure means death and ostracization from the social group.

They feel the judgement born of their own spectator experience.

They know that people want to see them fall to validate their own decisions to sit and watch rather than take part and fail repeatedly.

Its safer to sit stationary with everyone else and forget their dreams and passions than risk trying to drive towards them and failing.

To Stop Driving is to Stop Living

I thought I'd reached the finish line once I qualified as a GP so I just stopped. I thought I’d come far enough by societies standards that I would automatically be able to enjoy my life.

I still felt the rainbow road calling me to continue driving towards something more. But I just ignored it, I was resigned to just sit in the same place twiddling my thumbs waiting for the magic to happen.

As the years passed I realised I wasn’t living the life I wanted. I had no meaningful goal to work towards.

And I wasn’t interested in the remaining societal goals to work a job I hated week after week until retirement.

So I decided to get back in my cart and start driving the rainbow road again.

It was scary at first but not as scary as knowingly letting the one life you have pass by without ever trying to reach your full potential.

We are programmed to believe that a life without failure is better than a life without passion.

Therefore we’d rather settle for a life that avoids the sting of failure than the life of our dreams.

But its passion that connects failure to the life of your dreams.

The path of failure will eventually lead to the path of success.

How to find your passion

You’ll have noticed by now that passion is essential to life on the rainbow road.

But how do you find your passion?

1)Self-Reflection

• What do you love doing? What are the activities and interests that naturally captivate you?
• What do you always have time for?
• What nourishes your soul? What makes you feel alive even though it might drain others?
• What gets you into flow? What makes 1 hour feel like 1 minute?
• What’s important to you? What are the principles that guide your decisions and lifestyle?

2)Experiment and Explore

 

“There’s more to see than can ever be seen

More to do than can ever be done” –

Circle of Life, The Lion King 

 

These lyrics hit me every time because they’re so true.

Everything that you know about yourself is based only on what you’ve experienced in your life so far. Therefore it may only be a fraction of who you really are.

You don't see your passion because you’ve not had enough different experiences to understand what resonates with you.

Get out there and engage in different activities, take up new hobbies and explore various fields.

Consider volunteering or interning in areas that are important to you to gain exposure.

People get to a certain age in life and stop seeking new experiences thinking that they’ve completed the game.

The game is never complete, it keeps going as long as you keep playing.

3)Learn Continuously

Its unfortunate that school ruins learning for many people by force feeding them things they couldn’t care less about.

But you’re not at school anymore, you can choose what you learn and dive into books, articles and videos on subjects that actually interest you.

Entering the rabbit hole of continuous learning takes you through endless branching paths. Your chance of stumbling upon something you're undeniably passionate about is almost guaranteed.

4)Seek Inspiration

This is similar to self reflection, but instead of reviewing your own experience you look to the experience of other people.

Talk to people who have found their passions. Engage with friends, family and mentors or professionals in your field of interest.

Listening to someone talk about something they’re passionate about is energizing even if you’re not interested in their passion.

Notice that once they get going they automatically answer all of the self-reflection questions above. Look for patterns in their answers that will lead to your own insights.

5)Reflect on Your Childhood

Children just know...

They know what they are passionate about because they haven’t yet been influenced by the invisible force of social conformity.

Think about what you loved doing as a child.

Childhood passions can often indicate deep-seated interests that may have been forgotten or set aside.

6)Listen to Your Emotions

Passions cause positive emotions like joy, happiness and fulfilment.

When was the last time you felt like this? Have you noticed any particular activities that are associated consistently with positive emotions?

I know life isn’t all rainbows and sunshine so observe your frustrations as well. Sometimes understanding what you don’t like can also guide you towards what you enjoy.

7)Set Goals and Take Action

It can be overwhelming at first if you have many different ideas to consider.

Don’t rush, start with small steps related to your interests that you know you can achieve. This will set the ball in motion naturally leading to bigger experiences which help clarify your passion.

Stay Persistent, it might take time and effort, but stay persistent and open minded through the process.

8)Evaluate and Reflect Regularly

Check in with yourself regularly. I find the most helpful way to do this is to write in a journal.

Keeping a daily journalling habit is a great way to:

• Reflect on everything you’re learning about yourself and your interests.
• Help to organize your thoughts when your mind is overflowing.
• Become aware of your own evolution so you can adapt and explore new directions as you grow.

Summary

• Life is a rainbow road.
• The path ahead is uncertain with bends and twists but you need to drive it nevertheless.
• So find your passion and start your engine up because there is an unlimited universe of experience waiting for you to start your real life.

Thanks for reading 

That’s all for now

Lewis