Blueprints Expire

I went ice skating for the first time in years last week.

They hadn't run the Zamboni in a while, and the groves of skaters before me ran deep into the ice.

At first, the groves were helpful--guiding me around the rink as I relearned to balance on my own. But once I wanted to diverge from the ruts, they got in the way--forcing me into paths I didn't want to take.

The same thing happens when you base your life plans on other peoples' lives. How they built their career, their business, their brand, their family, their life.
When you're just figuring out how to balance on skates, their advice, their book, their course, their biography, their blueprint can be helpful. It can get you started until you find your own footing.

But someone else's blueprint can only take you so far. You weren't put on this Earth for the same reason they were, so you can only follow the same path they did for a limited time. Eventually, you'll have to chart your own.

If you keep holding onto another person's map, it'll turn you in a direction you're not supposed to go. You can't ride along the groves someone else carved while trying to forge your own path at the same time. It'll just trip you up.

At the start, it may have been helpful, perhaps even necessary, to have someone else's plan to work off of. It can warn you of obstacles, shorten your learning curve, and smooth the initial path before you. But if you hold on too long, what was once helpful can easily become a hindrance.