Following another's path

I'm reading Consolations by Sally Wolfe, a novel about a woman who converts to Catholicism and becomes a nun. It was Thomas Merton who inspired the protagonist, and reading this caused me to recall my own reading of Merton and how I also felt drawn to Catholicism because of him, although, unlike the protagonist in Consolations, I never followed through.

It's probably a good thing. There were other times when, inspired by someone following a certain path, I did do so. When we are young, we are looking for someone who knows because, God knows, we don't. And there's a lot of danger in that – because we all have our own individual path in life, and the trick is to find that path, not to follow someone else's.

How do we find the confidence when we are young to look inside and “follow our bliss” as Joseph Campbell counseled?