Figuring Out Who You Are Is Your First Mission
The world will be an illusion unless you know your truth
Nothing will make sense if you have no idea who you are.
To understand the world, you have to first understand yourself. You need to understand your biases, environment, upbringing and all else that influenced who you are today.
This knowledge matters.
The longer you go without understanding yourself, the further you will get from your truth.
Without knowing your truth, years from now you’ll end up stuck, wondering why you don’t feel like you’re fulfilling your purpose, or have a purpose at all.
That’s why your first mission is to figure out who you are.
University is not where you find yourself
The biggest lie told to kids in high school is, “You go to University to find yourself”.
This lie is one that I was constantly told. It was told to me by teachers, TV shows, advisors and everyone else you could imagine.
Because of this lie, when I got to University and realized I didn’t want to become an astrophysicist like I thought I did, I didn’t drop out immediately.
I figured I could stay at the University and figure it out. The worst-case scenario… I find myself, right?
Now, I was a lucky one.
Not because it only took me another year to figure out I should drop out, but because I was blessed with parents who could afford to cover my University.
So, my parents were willing to pay for me to go to University while I figure out who I am and what I want.
Along the way, I made friends older than me and told me I did not need to go to University.
Once again I was lucky.
Lucky they convinced me I could find myself anywhere, save my parents from wasting their hard-earned money, and set me on the right path which eventually led to me finding myself.
Does this mean the University is preventing you from figuring out who you are?
No.
But, it does mean University is not needed to figure yourself out.
And, while University can be helpful, spending many thousands of dollars without having a specific education in mind is a waste of time (for the most part) and money.
The same time in class is better spent solely on figuring out who you are. Otherwise, you’ll be lost.
It’s too easy to live in a lie
Your whole living experience is an illusion if you don’t know who you are.
Without the proper understanding of why you think a certain way or how your past has given you certain biases, preferences and strengths, nothing you experience will be the truth.
Let me explain this in the most obvious, but slightly unrealistic way.
Let’s say someone taught you that “love” means that you dislike someone.
Your whole life would be lived thinking that anytime someone told you they love you, they were telling you they don’t like you.
This sounds extreme, but sadly, the word “love” can come off negatively to a lot of people who weren’t shown love when they were young and this is how they view it.
Another example for you.
Imagine your whole life you played the clarinet.
You enjoy it and are good at it, but you mainly do it for praise. Everyone tells you to keep it up, so you do.
You do enjoy it and think it is your calling until one day you pick up the saxophone.
It’s similar, but you like it more.
In fact, you love it. You love it so much that you play it 10 hours a day and become better than good. You become incredible.
The point is you don’t fully understand your preferences and strengths until you take the time to figure yourself out.
Those who take the time to figure themselves out, try different things. They want to explore the world to find the things they love.
On top of that, they explore themselves. They know the more they learn about themselves, the more they will enjoy their lives.
They will be living their truth.
Your work will have meaning
The beauty of finding and living your truth is your time is spent doing things you love more often.
What percentage of your time do you think is spent doing things you love?
The truth might shock you.
If you’re lucky, maybe 20%. Some studies show as low as 3%.
Now, what if you could raise that to 25% or even 30%... what would that do to your life and how would that even be possible?
The only way you can make that happen is if you love what you do.
And the best way to love what you do is to make your work have meaning.
When you find meaning in your work, you look forward to going to your job every day. In a way, your work is part of you, it completes you.
That’s something many people at this point in their lives feel is impossible.
They have no idea what loving work feels like and have trouble even imagining it.
But, some of us lucky folk have experienced it, and let me tell you, it’s an incredible feeling.
If you’re going to spend 40+ years working, you may as well spend those years on something that gives you a sense of meaning.
You’ll have a hard time getting there if you don’t figure yourself out first.
Life will become easier
It’s no secret, that people find life to be difficult. Studies show that people get stressed thinking about the future, and more than half of people suffer from anxiety.
I believe that would change if more people figured out who they were.
When you figure out who you are, things start to make sense.
You understand yourself so well that you know exactly what to do when you are anxious, sad, or upset.
You begin to feel as if life is flowing. Nothing particularly sets you off, at least, very rarely.
Life just becomes… easier.
It’s not that you don’t have challenges or that life becomes boring by any means. But, you simply understand that life is a series of challenges and you are fully capable of taking them on.
You become more confident in yourself, and with this confidence comes happiness.
Conclusion
Life is a struggle. But, the struggle is much harder when you have no idea who you are.
This is an unnecessary burden, but unfortunately, one that is very real for a lot of people.
That’s why your first mission should be to figure yourself out.
If you do this the result will be happiness, fulfillment and success.
Thanks for reading