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One upside to being a shitty blogger is that there is the freedom to write whatever one feels like without the fear of ridicule. I do wish to become a blogger who writes about things people appreciate and want to read regularly. But becoming a better blogger takes time and effort and will happen eventually if I keep on trying. What can be attempted right now is becoming a regular blogger. The only problem with becoming regular is to come up with new ideas regularly. Since I am out of fun ideas this week, I will write about something a little more serious.
Before going into today’s article, there is something I want to clear up first. This article might seem like listening to unnecessary advice from an insignificant person but giving advice is not my aim here. I aim to talk about my realization on the subject, to connect with people who have similar thoughts, and to seek advice from the more knowledgeable. Since I wish to take a stand on some subjects it might offend some people (as if anyone reads this blog) but that is not the intention of this article.
So let’s dive straight into the topic at hand. As far as leading a meaningful life is concerned I like to classify people into 3 types.
The First Kind
This is the kind of people who
- know what they want in life,
- also know what they need to do to get there, and
- without any delay whatsoever do the necessary work day in and day out and eventually, achieve their goal(s).
Seems simple right. Well, everything is simple when someone else is doing it. These are the people that are respected in society. It is not necessary that they are famous or rich but respected for sure and most importantly happy and content.
Second Kind
Then there is the second kind of people. These are the people that have long forgotten their goals and do not pursue anything that requires mental or physical effort.
They have a few common characteristics:
- No goals or ambitions in life.
- Blames everyone else for their misery.
- Finds peace in internet flame wars.
- Lives for gossip.
- Generally unhealthy mentally and physically.
I am not here to judge these people on their life choices or lecture them on what they need to do to change. I actually envy these people. Though they may have problems in their lives, these people are generally content with the state of things and are at peace with themselves and the world in general.
Third kind
Then of course there is the third kind. It is my understanding that I belong to this class. These are the most discontent and unhappy people in the world. They are also generally confused.
These people are yet to figure out their purpose in life but are looking for it with unwavering focus. If they somehow figure it out, they don’t know how to reach their goal or are afraid to try. Generally discontent with the state of things, they often wonder if there is more to life than the daily monotony.
These people are in a very unstable state. With a slightly unfortunate turn of events, there is the danger of slipping to the second kind and thus living like a zombie till death. On the brighter side, there is the chance that with a bit of fine-tuning these people can become the first kind and thus live a happy and more importantly, a purposeful life.
You don’t need to be a genius to figure out that it takes no effort to move to the second kind and live a half-life but it takes considerable effort to move to the first kind and live a purposeful life.
Ok, Stop!!! What do you mean by a purpose?
When I say purpose I mean something in the lines of the Japanese concept of
Ikigai. Ikigai roughly translates to the happiness of always being busy.
This term was highly popularized outside Japan by the book
Ikigai by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles.
Though I don’t think the book itself is life-changing, it gives a fresh
perspective to things.
A more elaborate description of Ikigai is the diagram below.
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| Diagramatic representation of Ikigai |
What this diagram tells us is that if you can find something
- that you are good at,
- that you can get paid for,
- that the world needs, and
- that you love doing
then we can call it your Ikigai.
For example, let us take Elon Musk and his company Tesla:
- the success of the company is proof that Elon is good at making electric cars
- the continuous surge in Tesla share prices and the customer demand for Tesla cars show that he is making money
- the world needs less pollution and to reduce dependency on oil hence the need for electric cars and
- last but not the least if you have seen how Elon Musk presents new Tesla cars there will be no doubt that he loves all of it.
Hence we can say that Tesla is Elon Musk’s Ikigai.
Talking of Elon Musk, if you haven’t read it yet please do read the book Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping our Future by Ashlee Vance. I highly recommend it.
Coming back to the discussion at hand. Ikigai is roughly my idea of a purpose in life. Since it is very hard to find something that meets all 4 criteria of Ikigai, I am completely ok with something that generates just enough money to keep me floating but is immensely fulfilling.
Why is a purpose needed?
I cannot answer for everyone here but I can very well answer why I feel the need for a purpose in life. Though it is very complicated to explain, I will put forward 2 reasons why I feel the need for having a purpose in life.
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Don’t be a parasite : All animals that I know of, breathe in some way, gather food, reproduce and at some point die. All animals other than humans are nature friendly. They mostly leave the Earth as it was before they arrived. Humans on the other hand have intelligent brains and are responsible for destroying nature. The way most people live nowadays, contribute to some form of harm to the environment and there is no way we can avoid these e.g to make electricity we need to burn coal which causes air pollution, our vehicles release harmful gases, wooden furniture causes deforestation, we pollute the rivers in the name of religion, etc. I could go on with the list for very long. Since other animals don’t have an advanced brain and do not generally cause any environmental harm, I have nothing to say even if they don’t contribute to some good in this world. But when we humans(including me) despite having an intelligent brain don’t at least try to do some good in this world and instead leave it worse than it was before, I am not able to justify how we are different from parasites that feed on the host and leaves it to die in the end. Hence the need for a purpose that I find fulfilling and that makes the world a better place in some way.
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See privilege as a responsibility : While growing up I always had food on the table, a roof over my head, and had access to a decent education. We were not rich but we were comfortable. But as far as I have heard from my father, things were not so easy when he was growing up. Since I had access to the basics, that a very large percentage of people in our country can’t take for granted, I feel privileged and of course, blessed. Hence, it is my utmost duty to make use of that and leave a better world for my children and also to leave better children for this world. If I have a purpose that I feel strongly about and that does some good in this world, I will be able to create a slightly better world which in turn, I hope, inspires my children to find and pursue their own purpose. One phrase that truly resonates with me is
aspire to inspire before you expire.
How to find a purpose?
Honestly, I don’t know. One thing that I do know is that there is a very slight chance of finding it if I keep looking day in and day out but I will surely not find it if I stop looking for it.
Can we achieve our purpose, when we find it?
First of all, congratulations in advance for whenever you find your purpose. Be grateful that you have found your purpose. Most people forget to search for it and many who do search for it, do not find it in their lifetime. Whether you achieve your purpose or not, do remember to enjoy the journey on the way to achieving it. The path to achieving your purpose in life may seem impossible but it is just our mindset that makes it seem that way. As rightly mentioned in the book Mindset: Changing The Way You think To Fulfil Your Potential by Carol Dweck, the tasks that seem impossible to us is mostly due to our fixed mindset towards it and only if we tweak our mind to a growth mindset that we truly start to uncover the possible solutions.
An Alternate Definition of Hell
As it is clearly evident from what I have written till now that I don’t have any experience with how to achieve purpose in life. What I can offer you instead is motivation to keep looking. They say fear is the best motivation. One such fear that I have is related to the alternate definition of hell. The definition is not my own, I heard it from Rob Dial who runs the very successful podcast named The Mindset Mentor which I follow very religiously. Ok, here it goes. Hell is when you are on your deathbed and you meet the person who you could have become if would have tried looking for your purpose a little longer and this man keeps reminding you, for eternity, of all the good things that you missed because you stopped trying. I don’t want to be in this situation so I keep on looking for it. This way I make sure that when I die, I will rest in peace for sure as even if I don’t find or fulfill my purpose it will not be for the lack of trying.
Ending thoughts
As Paulo Coelho says in his book The Alchemist, when
you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
No matter how hopeless the situation is, keep looking for your purpose and have
faith that help will come and the path will be shown.
Do let me know in the comments if you like the content or think it is all absolute bullshit. It would be of great help if you share your own stories on the subject.
Have a happy weekend ahead.
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