McAllister - Roadmap: the get-it-together guide for figuring out what to do with your life

Text copyright 2015 by Roadtrip Nation.

Roadmap, Roadtrip Nation, and Define Your Own Road are registered trademarks of Roadtrip Nation.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.

ISBN 978-1-4521-2845-0 (pb)
ISBN 978-1-4521-4631-7 (epub, mobi)

Designed by Jennifer Tolo Pierce
Illustrations by Matthew Allen

Interviewees quotes from the Roadtrip Nation Interview Archive appear throughout this book and have been edited for print purposes. Videos of the interviews can be viewed at www.roadtripnation.com/explore .

Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street
San Francisco, California 94107
www.chroniclebooks.com

Everything you do in these pages will be about silencing the din you hear from others and turning what makes you uniquethe interests, values, motivations, and peculiar quirks only you know and understandinto a life you want to live. Its an investigatory journey thatll lead you to a path thiss most true to who you are, but its bound to stir up some deep questions in the process. Dont ignore those questions. Examine them. Build on them. You will find prompts and activities throughout this ebook that will inspire you to pick up your favorite writing implement and start jotting down ideas, challenges, opportunities, and dreams. Since you cant (yet) scribble right in this ebook the way you can in the print edition, grab a journal and make that your landing place for all these discoveries. And let us know what you find.

See you on the Open Road.

Roadtrip Nation

#RoadmapBook

@RoadtripNation

facebook.com/roadtripnation

instagram.com/roadtripnation

Roadtrip Nation started in 2001 when a group of lost and confused friends took a Roadtrip to figure out what to do with their lives. The idea was simple: talk to people who do what they love and get a better understanding of how to create a life you want to lead. We came to call the people we interviewed Roadtrip Nation Leaders. They were from all walks of life but had one thing in common: They were leaders in a new way of living. They built lives centered on their interests and propelled by their individuality. They were doctors, writers, corporate moguls, monks, musicians, engineers, judges, astrobiologists, hairstylists, lawyers, filmmakers, athletes, entrepreneurs, and others who shared stories of the paths they took, the mistakes they made, and the myths they debunked.

What began as one Roadtrip turned into a movement, including an annual documentary series on public television, a number of books (including this one), online resources for self-discovery, and a growing Interview Archive of stories from the roadall dedicated to helping individuals define their own roads in life.

In 2009, the movement expanded into education with the creation of The Roadtrip Nation Experience, a self-discovery program for the classroom designed to help students explore their identities and find pathways aligned with their interests by conducting interviews with Leaders in their own communities.

Today, Roadtrip Nation continues to empower individuals to create meaningful lives doing what they love.

To learn more about the movement, visit www.roadtripnation.com .

For more information about Roadtrip Nation in education, visit www.roadtripnation.org .

Dont just read this bookwatch it. Immerse yourself in footage from more than a decade on the road.

With the purchase of this book you get a free limited membership to the Roadtrip Nation Interview Archive. There you can watch thousands of videos featuring people who have built livelihoods around their interests, including all of the interviews referenced in this book and more than a hundred episodes from our television series.

To get started, explore videos by Interest, Foundation, and Theme.

Have this book with you and log onto www.roadtripnation.com/roadmapbook . Use the following code and youll be ready to go.

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This book is about answering an old question in a new way.

The question itself is unavoidable; no matter who you are or where youre from or what youve been through, youre going to reach a moment in life when youre anxious and confused, unsure about the path ahead. And youre going to hear that voice, from outside and within, asking you, So, what are you going to do with your life?

Its not easy to admit that often the only honest answer to that question is I dont know. Its tough being lost. We speak from experienceand were not just referring to heading down the wrong street or being in the wrong city, or even state (although weve been there plenty of times). Were talking about that deeper meaning of lost, the one that prompts the scary questions about life and work and lasting satisfaction.

Weve been lost, and weve asked ourselves and others those difficult questions for years. When youre facing the future, when those questions are barreling down on you and the knots in your stomach are tightening, you can feel incredibly isolated. Were here to remind you that youre not alone.

At Roadtrip Nation, weve spent more than a decade tasking ourselvesand a growing movement of young Roadtrippersto explore how others have learned to live fulfilling lives. Through their stories, weve learned that its absolutely possible to live a rich and considered lifeone that will grow and thrive along with your interests, your values, and your vision. We know it because weve sat face-to-face with people who are doing just that, and weve straight-up asked them what it takes to live a life thats both meaningful and an expression of ones individuality.

Do you have any regrets?

How did you build a life around your interests and your individuality?

How did you deal with other peoples expectations of you?