To find meaning in life- learn to study yourself
Ask yourself this:
How much time have you dedicated to understanding yourself?
You know, actually sitting down and making a conscious effort to figure out what you want to do in your life.
Unconscious decision-making is a dangerous realm to be in. If you don't make your own decision, someone will make that decision for you- whether you are aware of it or not.
In this post, I want to remind you that you have the courage to live a life true to yourself and not the life that is expected of you. This is where you will derive the most meaning, by living a life in accordance with your calling.
In this blog, I will start on the surface level- if you don’t have a direction you will feel lost. I will then dive deeper by showing how cultivating self-awareness is fundamental in figuring out your direction. Finally, I will provide you with actionable steps that you can take to learn more about yourself.
Part 1- Back to basics: know where you are going.
To take action on what we want out of life, we have to create clarity around the decisions we make.
Seneca explains, “If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favourable”.
This means you can set fantastic goals but if they are not where you are wanting to go- you are wasting a lot of time and effort.
Back in University, I took the machine gun approach, shooting in multiple directions and never really hitting the mark.
From being editor, cameraman, business guy and gaffer.
If you feel the same it’s because, like me, - you have struggled to pinpoint what you want out of life. You feel pulled in multiple directions, uncertain of how to honour your passions, and have kept your options open while making sure you follow a secure pathway.
No wonder you feel lost and don't know what your calling is.
Part 2- Cultivate self-awareness
The problem is that we have so many things that we like but no real idea of what we can develop. This is because we lack clarity about ourselves, and are not taking an active role in trying to analyse how we are spending our time.
If you are not understanding the things that make you, you. Then you have little hope of trying to make active steps in understanding what you want out of life.
You will just continue on the traditional path because it provides the least resistance. Or worse you will put all your efforts into attempting to appear busy with work, never asking the question of what you are actually doing with your life.
A bit of anxiety can begin to build as you realise you might have been coasting through life, never asking why you are where you are. Feel the feeling, for it is just a signpost of something meaningful.
By taking some personal responsibility and cultivating self-awareness we can begin the process of trying to understand ourselves, through analysing ourselves.
Part 3- Information Gathering
In this section, all I suggest is to start taking notes on your life.
Trying to understand yourself is a long journey and no one can do this for you. You have to decide to put in the work and want to interact with it.
As such this should be an exciting prospect because not many people will take the time to sit with their thoughts and ponder “who am I?”.
There is no need to jump into the deep end here. This might feel like a shallow introduction but all you have to do is start gathering information on how you spend your time.
Grab your favourite books and podcasts, old journals, and scan your YouTube history to find data points. These data points will allow you to create coordinates to draft your map of meaning.
If you are reading this far- this is a clear sign you are resonating with this message. Great, this is your first data point to note down.
Here is a graphic to help visualise how this breaks down:
Looking at the image, you can break things into pillars and then attach categories that interest you within each pillar. This will then lead to themes within each category and slowly you will organise what you consume. This simple step in assessing the information that you are consuming will allow your subconscious to start picking up similarities. With consistent efforts, your map will grow, and hopefully, you will have a better understanding of who you are by seeing how you like to naturally spend your time.
Maybe that’s what the quote “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life” is hinting at. Find what you naturally gravitate towards and hopefully you will find what is most meaningful to you.
The next step is the courage to make your passions into a reality. But more on that next week…
-The Wrap-Up-
If you made it this far, first off thank you! I very much value your time. I would love to hear what your thoughts are so feel free to reach out.
I appreciate your feedback.
So much so that I’ve included some of the previous feedback to express just how much it helps me grow.
Constructive criticism:
Carmen thank you for pointing out the lack of images. I agree it can be hard to just focus on the text so this time I’ve tried to spice it up with some images.
Personal- At the start make clear what you are wanting to give people. Helps them read through to the end.
