Ten years ago, I lived a very different life. I lived in Sydney Australia, worked in a corporate job and dreamed that someday I would do something in the realm of personal development.

Now, without making this sound like some cheesy infomercial, 10 years later my life is completely different. I now live in Orange County, California. I am growing my own business, and I am a professional keynote speaker.

And the reason for that is simply because I decided to go.

A decade ago, at the age of 31, I could feel the ordinariness of life starting to settle in. I had a nice home, a good job, and a steady relationship. But what I lacked was a sense of feeling alive.

If you looked at me from the outside, you probably wouldn’t have had a clue. I did my best to enjoy time with friends, enjoy entertainment and keep my life together.

But deep down, I knew that I couldn’t live that way. My actualizer nature was calling to me to do something different. To escape the normality I had worked hard to build.

It was around that time that I found a way to work for my company from the USA. I wasn’t sure that I could make the business work, but I had to take the risk. Through several negotiations with the company, I got them to agree to help get sponsored to work from America.

But as soon as I had everything set up, I could feel the hesitation begin to set in. Should I risk everything I had built, should I leave my friends and family, and everything I had ever know just to try to ‘make it’ in the USA?

One night I was lying in bed, deliberating on what to do.

Call it a higher self, or a message from above, or whatever you will, I could hear three words in my head:

You should go.

I took some deep breaths, listed all my possessions for sale, and booked a one-way ticket to California. Three months later, I was boarding a plane, waving a tearful goodbye to friends and family who I am sure thought I would be home within a month or two.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing when I got to my destination. I knew almost nobody and had to figure out the new culture and life I wanted to build. It took me about 5 years before I truly felt like I had created a new way of living for myself. But during those five years, I felt incredibly alive.

Recently, I have taken another big leap in terms of leaving the comfortable corporate role that I managed to keep for 10 years and started my own business. I have actually wanted to do this for maybe two years, but it took until the start of this year to finally do it.

Why? Because once again, I could hear that voice telling me: you should go.

What’s the lesson here? If you are a person who is not satisfied with the life and routine that you have created, it is completely within your power to change it.

You created it, you can say goodbye to it.

Maybe you don’t need to move countries like me (or maybe you do!) but perhaps it’s a career change or kicking off a new project or hobby. Whatever will make you feel alive is what you need to move towards.

Moving towards something new means moving away from something familiar. Sometimes that is the security and comfort of a job or the community of friends and family you’ve depended on for years. By leaving the familiar, you have a chance at becoming something bigger.

Remember this: you can always go back to what you did before, and the people who love you will always welcome your return.

If there is something inside you calling you to adventure. You need to listen to it.

You should take the risk and make yourself feel alive.
You should say farewell to the familiar.
You should go.