If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I made a BIG purchase a few months back… I bought a Microsoft Surface – you know, the iPad/computer mix with all of those dancing/clicking commercials. It took me forever to decide on it – not because it was a big purchase (which it certainly was), but because I had to choose if I really am a PC instead of a Mac.

Let me step back a bit. I am from a large family, and every single one of my four siblings own an iPhone, all have an iPad, and there are several Touches, Nanos and Shuffles mixed in. I am the “hold-out.” My phone is android-based that is a few years too old, and my Shuffle is from the 2008. I love the technology and interface, but absolutely loathe being tied to one central purchasing system. It feels wrong. (It’s also why I’m not a huge fan of the Kindle… but that’s another story).

I am competent on both PCs and Macs, but for my personal operating systems, I have chosen PCs because I already owned so much software. But a portable device is different. The iPad is the obvious answer… right?

I couldn’t do it. The iPad just wasn’t right for me. I needed a portable device that I could work on as though I were at my desk. I needed a real keyboard, with programs that I used daily, and the ability to literally take my work with me. I’m sure other devices have some of that, but the only product that truly met all of those things for me was a Surface.

And I knew that from the moment I started my research. But I refused to buy it. I felt guilty for not considering an iPad. I stalled my purchase by several months because I couldn’t “justify” my deviation from the norm, to my friends and family.

WHAT?

I’ve come across this feeling before – haven’t we all? I want to quit a job, I want to pursue a job at a different company, I politely decline a job offer at a “dream company.” You know… all of the choices we know we make for ourselves, but constantly question our decision-making capabilities because of outside influences?

We all fall prey to it at one time or another – and for me, it was a technology decision. But our culture has made being a Mac or a PC a… thing. I am an online solopreneur. I work on/build websites for fellow coaches. I should be a Mac – you know, the cool, technologically inclined vision that they have created. But I’m not.

Instead of embracing that and going for the thing that works for me, I went without. And pondered my decision. And drove my friends insane with my constant vacillation.

While I am more than happy to discuss how much I am loving my Surface, all of the fun things I’ve used it for and so on, it’s not about the device. (It never is…)

It’s about owning who you are and trusting your gut when making decisions.

It’s about finding what works for YOU. Not what works for your friends, family members, or society. Isn’t that why there are so many options out there?

And that includes making career decisions.

Stop pursuing jobs that make you miserable, only because you are good at them. Stop staying at companies because they have a BIG name if you are unhappy. Don’t relentlessly pursue someone else’s dream and career path.

I know, easier said than done.

But it starts with making a simple statement when the time comes – are you a Mac or a PC? And does it really matter if you are following your own path?