When the Path Is Clear, It’s Probably Not Yours

There’s a quote often attributed to Carl Jung: “If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on someone else’s.” Whether he said it or not, the idea rings true—especially in a world obsessed with certainty and step-by-step success.

We’re wired to seek clarity. It feels safe. College, job, marriage, retirement—tick the boxes, follow the script. But when your life follows a map someone else drew, it’s easy to lose yourself. The clear path often belongs to someone else’s dream, not your own.

Building your own life isn’t neat. It’s confusing, full of detours, false starts, and days that feel like failure. But that’s the cost of walking a path that’s genuinely yours. There’s no template for originality. There’s no GPS for purpose.

That uneasy feeling—the doubt, the fog, the friction—that’s not always a problem. It might be a sign you’re doing something real. Something you actually chose. It might mean you’re not coasting on inherited plans but shaping your own.

So if everything feels too obvious, too easy, too prepackaged—pause. Ask who you’re really walking for. Because a clear path might feel good now, but the longer you stay on it, the harder it is to break off and start your own.

The path that matters is the one you have to make. Step by step. Mistake by mistake. That’s where growth lives. That’s where you live.