Kudos to Harrison Ford and Jeep – An Intentional Life

Credit where credit is due—that Super Bowl Jeep commercial with Harrison Ford hit the mark. When he said, “My friends, my family, my work make me happy,” I felt a chill run through me. I’d add faith to that list, but something tells me that’s exactly what he finds in those rugged mountains he calls home. These things—our relationships, our purpose, our freedom to choose our own path—are the essence of America. They are the best of us.

It was a stirring reminder: Choose wisely. Every day.

How do we stray from this path? Not by accident, but by neglect.

The weight of daily life—the relentless grind of to-dos and obligations—can smother a life of purpose like a thick morning mist. I see it all the time in my Ladder UPP peer groups. A person steps into adulthood full of dreams, only to wake up years later not guided by purpose, but lost in the relentless hum of daily existence. And it’s not always the obvious distractions that derail us; it’s the quiet, insidious noise of routine—the kind that doesn’t seem harmful, yet drowns out a life well-lived, much like city lights blot out the brilliance of the Milky Way.

There are only two ways out of this fog:

A clear purpose and direction.
An intentional plan to pursue it.
There are no shortcuts. It won’t be easy. But, as Harrison said in that commercial—and as I’ve long believed—you choose.

In a world shifting beneath our feet, now is the time to turn off autopilot and take the wheel of your own life. Start with first principles: Who am I? What truly matters to me? What kind of life should I be living? Write it down. Talk it through with those you love. Give it shape.

Then, make a plan. Envision a life rooted in what matters most. Plot the steps to get there. Be willing to prune away the excess so your real branches can grow. This journey is not reserved for the young or the lucky—it is never too late to begin.

The good news? If you do it right, you’ll find yourself circling back to life’s true riches—things that aren’t measured in dollars, but in time and effort. Your family. Your faith. Work that fills you with pride. The choice is yours, and it’s never too late to make the right one.

“The pessimist resembles a man who observes with fear and sadness that his wall calendar, from which he daily tears a sheet, grows thinner with each passing day. On the other hand, the person who attacks the problems of life actively is like a man who removes each successive leaf from his calendar and files it neatly and carefully away with its predecessors, after first having jotted down a few diary notes on the back. He can reflect with pride and joy on all the richness set down in these notes, on all the life he has already lived to the fullest. What will it matter to him if he notices that he is growing old? Has he any reason to envy the young people whom he sees, or wax nostalgic over his own lost youth? What reasons has he to envy a young person? For the possibilities that a young person has, the future which is in store for him?

No, thank you,’ he will think. ‘Instead of possibilities, I have realities in my past, not only the reality of work done and of love loved, but of sufferings bravely suffered. These sufferings are even the things of which I am most proud, although these are things which cannot inspire envy.”

― Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning