Editor's note: This was originally sent out in the newsletter on 10/09/17
One thing that has been on my mind a lot lately is the big question; what is it all for? I am sure this is a question we have all asked ourselves at some point, many times with different intentions. Perhaps you have asked yourself this in a time of hardship, dealing with loss, working a job you hate, or even when you are bored with regular everyday life. It is a question that creeps in to our minds here and there, but do we ever give it a good answer. Do we need to answer it? Maybe we need a slightly different question. Maybe the question should be: what am I doing it all for?
I think the question, what am I doing it for, is the better one to search for the answer to. I don’t know how many people ask themselves this. You can see there are a lot of people with goals; maybe they have big career aspirations or a large travel bucket list, but those are single checkable boxes. Everyone wants to get the good job, make the big money, and retire comfortably. To what end though? What do you do with that comfortable retirement? Hang out and wait to die? I think having goals is good for a lot of things but it isn’t a purpose. I think we need to give ourselves a more forward thinking purpose.
What do we do with this purpose? The answer is sort of two sides to the same coin. First it gives us a direction to move toward. Sitting still just leads to a state of atrophy, with purpose you can see if you are making progress. The second part is that it helps weigh our choices, it gives us a measuring stick. Did the choice you make help move you closer to your vision or purpose?
This Instagram post from Ryan Carson sort of gave me the inspiration to figure out what to do with this idea for purpose. Give yourself the big picture and make sure you are moving toward it. Something you can reference, that is sort of staring back at you on a regular basis. As if to ask, are you following through?
So what is my big picture purpose? This is something that will undoubtedly evolve, but this is the start.
- Work to become the best version of myself I can be.This one seems pretty obvious but I will try to break it down some. This includes a number of parts. I have been trying to live closer to a stoic lifestyle (something that I will get into in more depth in the future), so part of this is following their key tenet values of wisdom, courage, temperance, and judgment. Part of it is continuing to expand my knowledge of the world, learning as much as I can about as many subjects as I can. Part of it is making sure that I am doing what I can to have a positive impact on those around me. It is also doing my part in all of my relationships, to make sure that they are of high quality and I am adding value. Lastly it is making sure that I am constantly examining life. That I am asking the hard questions and not letting anything just be fine. That I question things that are taken for granted, reflect on my values to make sure they are still the best ones to pursue. Part of the way I am going to track this is by starting a Core Book (much more to come on this in the future as well).
- Raise my children so they are prepared and ready for life.
This one also seems pretty straight forward, but I think it is very important. I want my kids to be ready for life, I want them to know how the world works, to have real expectations of what is out there. I want them to be better off than I was when I entered adulthood. I want to them to understand relationships, money, the workforce, and that they hold the key to their potential. While this is going on I want to make sure to instill the same values I am trying to live by and for them to understand that they are their greatest asset. I want them to understand the importance of community on whatever level that is important at the time (see number 3). I want them to be able to deal in logic, but to understand love and compassion as well. I also know the biggest impact I will probably have on the world is through them, the better I can do with them, the bigger that impact can be.
I understand that they will still need to learn most of these lessons themselves, but the more I can give them to start, the easier that can be.
- Do my part to help the community flourish and move toward a greater good.
This one is the one that needs to be flushed out the most. It is something I have been thinking about more and more lately, but the one I have done the least to move forward on. I believe doing my part in the community is an important thing. I think the term community is a very loose definition, it can mean different groups in different situations. Overall though I think part of it is staying an informed citizen and doing my part to make sure we are working toward a greater tomorrow. I think it is helping those who are less fortunate or are going through hard times.
I think our species has evolved into what we are because of community groups and it is important to keep that in mind. If we were not a part of a group, all of our time would be spent worrying about where our next meal was coming from. Being able to specialize in a field, to be able to have leisure time, to be able to educate ourselves, this all falls from this idea. To often I think that is forgotten.
None of this is to say that these are the only things I am going to do in life from here on out. It simply helps to keep the bigger picture in mind. Leisure time is important to. I am still going to end up bingeing some show on Netflix some nights, but hopefully, having this laid out, I will help me keep that to a healthy limit. When faced with the choice some nights, maybe I will think better of it and read a book instead.
Everyone will have different ideas about this topic. Some people know they are here to do something specific. Some people are meant to help people or to educate the youth. I think for most of us it isn't as clear, so you have to decide what you think that should be. Initiating conversation is half the battle.
Thank you for reading,
Mike