An email from a good friend just opened my eyes to what I really want to do with this website. My friend, like me and many women I know, is in her late 20s and is going through a mild “quarter-life crisis.” She feels unfulfilled in her current job, but the money is good and it’s hard to walk away. Deep down, she knows what she wants to do, but she’s afraid to do it, afraid to commit to it, afraid to say it out loud, afraid to even think about it (again, like me).

There are few things more terrifying than admitting to ourselves what we truly desire. If we don’t name it, we can flounder in the no-man’s land of “I don’t know what I want to do” for as long as we want. We can waste our days working just to pay the bills and never have to face the truth and make hard choices. Isn’t it much easier to plead ignorance? Then, no one—including ourselves—can expect much from us. We can’t fail at our dream job because we’re never going to try. (That’s not to say that I think we should up and quit our current jobs without a plan. I stand by my earlier advice—we’re adults, and we need to be self-sufficient even during periods of intense self-discovery.)

I think this is the real problem that faces most recent college grads—it isn’t that we don’t know what we want to do, it‘s that we won’t admit it to ourselves. You know that nagging, unsatisfied feeling you get when you think about joining the work force? That’s your secret passion whispering in your ear, begging you to speak its name. You know that desperate, trapped feeling you have as you’re getting ready for yet another day in the same, stupid, boring job? That’s your true calling urging you to stop being afraid, quit wasting your time, and take the plunge.

What is that little voice saying to you? What are you being called to do? What would you do with your life if you weren’t afraid?

I’ll go first. I want to write novels full-time. There, I said it. That’s what I want to do. How can I get there from where I am? More on that tomorrow.

I’d love your input on features that would be useful to you in your own personal development journey. Oh, and please send me a message and tell me what your secret dream is—let’s do this!