Free Living the Significant Life by Peter L. Hirsch, Robert Shemin

and she got frustrated, but in time the process became easier and she found herself conjuring up an increasingly clear picture of herself, still working at Pinewood but now as a full-fledged nurse practitioner. She saw herself in the kind of scrubs that Janet wore, and she even imagined that the two of them were friends, chatting over lunch in the tiny break room.
    Her mother was right. The more Maria visualized herself in that role, the more she felt comfortable that it fit her, and the more it emboldened her to think about how she might begin to pursue it.
    Late one afternoon, Maria was in the break room at Pinewood, sipping her coffee, when Janet walked in.
    “Maria! I’m glad I ran into you,” she said.
    “Oh, do you need some help with a patient?” Maria responded, starting to get up from her chair.
    “No, nothing like that. I’m on the board at Fisk Career Academy, and we’ve just gotten clearance to expand the nursing program there. I don’t know if you’re interested, but I’ve seen how good you are with the patients here, and I think you’d make a great nurse. If you’d like, I could help you put your application together and set you up with the financial aid office. It’s a part-time program, so you could continue to work here, but you’ll need to move quickly because the new spots will fill up fast.”
    Maria stared in dumbstruck silence.
    “Maria? Are you okay?”
    “Yes! Sorry, I’m fine, just a little—surprised. I’ve actually been trying to work up the nerve to ask you for advice about going to nursing school. I’d love to do what you do.”
    “Well, that’s a happy coincidence, then,” Janet replied. “Are you working tomorrow? Maybe we can start on your application then.”
    “That would be great,” Maria said. “Thank you so much.” She turned and made herself busy pouring another cup of coffee so Janet wouldn’t see the tears welling up in her eyes as she pictured her mother, all those years ago, sitting in a cramped house in Peru and picturing herself and her daughters living in the United States. Her mother’s imagination had transported the three of them nearly four thousand miles. Now Maria was starting her own journey. She wondered how far it would take her.
    Of course, it takes more than an active, creative imagination to build a life of significance. The trick is to channel your imagination into productive goals, but first we should address something that could derail you before you’ve even begun: fear.

PRINCIPLE #4
    Don’t Fear to Be Fearless
    Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.
    â€”Marie Curie
    Fear is a difficult subject to tackle head-on but an easy one to overcome. To get a handle on fear, let’s speak for a moment on the matter of belief.
    Belief is the key to success and significance. No matter what career or business enterprise you choose, you must believe in what you are doing. You must believe in your company, its mission, its integrity, and what it stands for, and you must believe in the people you work with as well. In your personal life, belief is equally essential—belief in your family and the principles by which you live your life.
    There’s no way to fake any of this. If you don’t believe in what you’re doing, you simply cannot be either successful or happy.
    We’ve all met businesspeople whose words just didn’t ring true—like a Honda salesperson who drives a Toyota. How many people do you know who are trading their time for money in a job they can’t stand? How persuasive, honest, and service-oriented is a person who doesn’t believe in what he or she is doing for work, much less to make a living? How many people do you know who are living deeply unhappy personal lives because they are behaving in ways that run counter to their basic beliefs?
    Belief, like life purpose, is one of those pass-fail things. Either you have it or you don’t. You must believe in your values,