Purpose
As we covered briefly in the social section, our dependence on other human beings is a biologically conditioned response, that causes us to fear going against the status quo, lest we be ostracized. Not being liked by your peer group is comparable to the threat of death.
It makes sense that we would suffer from an innate feeling of discomfort when we believe we have no value to offer. Deep down, the vast majority of us desperately yearn for a way to contribute to society. However, our desire to keep up with the Joneses has resulted in us replacing “purpose for service” with “purpose for profit”. The dreamers among us admit that we would prefer a world where financial security wasn’t the deciding factor for our careers, but the sad reality is that finding a purpose that aligns with our “reason for being” is a luxury only the wealthy can afford to indulge. Fortunately, if we decouple our careers from our hobbies, it is possible that one day people may recognize our skills and come to us of their own volition, rather than the usual method of begging for customers with attractive marketing packages.
Purpose goes hand in hand with self-actualization.
Meaning, unless you take the time to acknowledge your current skillsets and creative potential honestly, you will struggle to discover the “special task” your biological vessel was summoned into existence for. Try things, see what you enjoy, get good, find out how those skills can be helpful, and just do it without expectation.
If we enjoy doing something, it’s likely other people will too. So, if the skills you have developed are not easy to package, you can always teach them to others. Teaching others how to reach what you’ve attained will speed up our informational homogeneity, making us feel rewarded for providing value to the group, building healthy relationships (lessening chances of being ostracized), and then decreasing the learning curve for the student and their peers (collective intelligence).
I’ll admit that this is all easier said than done. Which is why we have constructed this section, dedicated to helping us realize how meaning and purpose directly affects our health, how to find a tribe that appreciates our value, and how to frequently self-reflect before our motivations accidentally get tangled up with less productive motives.
Choose Your Own
Adventure
Finding Meaning (To Be Completed)
What it means to have purpose and how we become dysfunctional without it.
Confidently Ignorant and Ignorantly Confident (To Be Completed)
The Dunning-Kruger effect, misguided dreams, and jumping off the bandwagon.
Finding Your Tribe (To Be Completed)
Tribal rituals, maturity, and why purpose cannot exist within a vacuum.
Purpose Speedrun (To Be Completed)
Fast tracking the hero's journey.
The Rabbit Hole of Purpose (To Be Completed)
Follow us down into the depths of the rabbit hole of meaning and purpose.
