"Quitting, for me means not giving up, but moving on; changing direction not because something doesn’t agree with you, but because you don’t agree with something. It’s not a complaint, in other words, but a positive choice, and not a stop in one’s journey, but a step in a better direction. Quitting-whether a job or a habit-means taking a turn so as to be sure you’re still moving in the direction of your dreams."
-Pico Iyer
I am incredibly passionate about Optometry and being able to use my knowledge and skills to make a difference in the lives of the people around me. I believe this is what I’m truly meant to do with my life. Even before getting in to Optometry school, I was drawn to independent practice and knew I wanted to either own or be a partner in an Optometry clinic. The appeal of getting to create something unique and the ability to practice true to my values attracted me.
So, when after five years of working as an associate, and the opportunity to partner was taken off the table, I started to think and dream about a new path for my future. I didn’t know this, but Emily always thought that the two of us might work together one day. Having her support and encouragement gave me confidence.
Anyone who has spent any significant amount of time around me has likely heard me quote Tony Robbins, Brené Brown, Wayne Dyer or Gary Vee at some point. It was while working at Lululemon in Victoria, that I got introduced and hooked on self-improvement, and the habit has stuck. I mention this, because one of the driving forces that helped me push past that initial fear of the unknown was Gary Vaynerchuk’s words about regret. That the fear of regret is far greater than the fear of failure. Twenty years from now, I did not want to look back on my life and wonder what could have been if I had done that scary, hard thing of quitting my job and opening our own Optometry practice.
I don’t think I could have done this if I didn’t have those mentors’ voices in my ear, like Jiminy Cricket, offering words of encouragement and strength. The confidence that we could do this was only strengthened by the support and love of our friends and family, as well as all of the new friends we’ve made over these past few months who have helped us turn this dream into a reality.
Emily and I frequently step back and are a bit in awe with how things happened. I truly believe things happen for a reason, and this belief has been affirmed so many times over since the start of this adventure. As hard as we’ve worked to get to this point, we’ve got so much more ahead of us, but we embrace it willingly. One of my favorite quotes of Mother Teresa is “God has not called me to be successful. He called me to be faithful.” I revisit this quote often, and it has helped us to clarity our number one goal with opening True North Optometry; We want to add value.
Thank you for reading