My life used to be a rigid fortress built from societal expectations. I was the architect, the builder, and the nervous sentry, agonizing over every milestone built from an outdated blueprint. Trying to de-risk a future I couldn’t predict and calculating the opportunity cost of everything I missed. My strategy was control. And it was exhausting.
The great pivot of my life, as it turned out, wasn’t a dramatic, earth-shattering event. It was a quiet decision, a slow exhale. It was the choice to trade the illusion of control for the power of curiosity. To stop trying to control and predict the future and start paying attention to the person right in front of me. To put down the map and simply start walking, following my strengths, my interests, and the simple, profound magic of saying “yes” to a conversation.
And what a journey that “yes” has unlocked.
Now, my life plan is no longer a rigid diagram. It has instead formed a living, ever-shifting world of shared stories. It has embodied the lesson in resilience I learned from a startup founder over espresso in Austin. It’s the perspective on global systems I gained from Fortune 500 executives. It’s the creativity I saw in an artist in a quiet Mexican studio, the disciplined passion of a film director, a boundless view of humanity from an astronaut who has seen our world from above.
I’ve shared laughter with venture capitalists who bet on people, not just pretty pitch decks. I’ve listened to celebrities who navigate the chasm between their public persona and private self. I’ve learned about community from a cafe owner who knows every regular’s name and story. In every case, I quickly learned their famous titles were the least interesting thing about them. Each conversation, whether in a stark boardroom, an overpacked conference in the EU, or a quiet corner in the UK, became a masterclass in our shared humanity, in life.
These incredible people, from every walk of life, are the living proof of my new thesis: The most effective strategy is not a rigid plan, but a prepared, curious, & flexible mind.
They didn’t all have a perfect blueprint. What they had was a commitment to their passion, a relentless work ethic, and an intelligent awareness of the world around them. They knew their strengths and played to them. They were masters of their craft who understood that real progress happens in the messy, beautiful, unpredictable space of humanity. They taught me that if you work hard, trust your intuition, and stay open, things will not only work out, but become more fascinating and meaningful than you could have ever planned.
This philosophy changed my life. The energy I once spent on control, I now invest in curiosity. That curiosity led me to travel the world, not with an itinerary, but with an open heart. The freedom from a rigid path ironically sharpened my professional focus, allowing me to become a true expert in business strategy because I was finally seeing the world as it is, not as a spreadsheet predicted it should be. This newfound clarity gave me the courage to pick up a camera and become an avid photographer, a researcher, an artist, a writer, a theorist of my own life – and I have never been happier.
Keep in mind, this isn’t about passivity. It is a strategic pivot. It is building a personal toolkit so diverse—in international business, creativity, technology, and sustainability—that you can step into any room, understand the conversation, and listen with appreciation. It is realizing that the most powerful opportunities aren’t lines on a Gantt chart; they are sparks of life.
So, how do you trade a map for a path that has only just begun to form? It begins by collecting skills, not just milestones, with the understanding that true security isn’t a title but a versatile, curious mind. This mindset encourages you to say ‘yes’ to the coffee meeting, to stop networking with a rigid agenda and start connecting with genuine curiosity, because the most valuable encounters are often the ones with no clear objective.
In these conversations, you learn to listen for the lesson, recognizing that every person you meet is a world-class expert in their own life whose story holds insights for your own. Ultimately, this path requires you to trust your inner compass. To love and appreciate every individual, no matter their walk of life. The things that actually excite you, your true interests and strengths, are the most powerful navigation tools you own, and the key is to follow them relentlessly.
I no longer stand guard on the walls of a fortress. I’m out in an open forest, and the path forward is illuminated by the light of a thousand fascinating conversations. The future is still unknown, but for the first time, it feels less like a source of anxiety and more like an invitation to an incredible adventure. I’m excited for it.
And so my dear reader, if you were to gather anything from this blog, let it be this: it is time to get out there and live a little.
Jessica Cole 