"Reach your full potential"
"Unlock your best self"
"Find your unique purpose"
I've heard these words many times over the past few years, in podcasts, articles, videos and even random conversations with friends but I never understood what they really meant or how to put them in practice in my life.
Hearing successful people say over and over again that you need to find your unique role in this world can be very misleading. You start to believe that there is ONE thing that you are meant to do. You believe that there is one passion or gift or talent that you are supposed to have that has the potential to change the world around you.
Is that a good assumption, though?
I have spent the last one year experimenting with my passions and desires, trying to understand what is this bloody thing that makes me special and unique and that is supposed to change the world and guess what? I found out that there is none. The initial assumption is wrong since it implies that we have something that makes us somewhat better than others.
The reality is that we are all already special and unique in the expression of our personality.
The goal, therefore, is not to find one passion but to experiment with as many passions as possible based on our natural inclinations and potentially pick the one that we like the most and live a fulfilled life doing what we love.
I don't know you but I feel quite relieved realizing that I don't have a mission to save the world. What a relief to know that God didn't give us the gift of life with the purpose of finding our "secret mission" and change the world, but rather to discover ourselves and engage in those activities that we enjoy the most. That makes life a pleasurable experience and Earth our special playground for self-discovery. The reason why successful people talk about "finding the purpose" and "changing the world" is that they notice the impact that their life has on people around them and they feel as if they are fulfilling a purpose bigger than themselves (which in a way is true). The fact is that when we spend our lives doing what we truly love we will end up having an impact on people around us because they will see true happiness in our lives and as a consequence they will allow themselves to believe that they too deserve a happy life and they too deserve to dream big and chase their passions. The ignition of our Soul will create a spark in other people's Souls and that is the collateral consequence of taking responsibility for our own happiness.
Learning this one single truth has changed my perspective on my sabbatical completely. I feel as if a huge weight has been taken off my shoulders and the focus of my attentions has now shifted from impacting the world to impacting myself and, potentially, the community around me.
The wrong belief that I had about passions led me also to believe that you either reach full glory and world recognition or you are a failure.
So for example, if I had a passion for music and I wanted to become a singer, in my old belief I would have to either become famous and change millions of people's lives or I didn't quite "made it". If my passion was medicine, I would have to either become an Elizabeth Kubler-Ross or, again, I'd be just one of the many doctors out there. (What an arrogant thought by the way!).
Today I feel that fame has nothing to do with fulfillment or success and everything to do with our ego. The reality is that there are millions of people who have an immense impact on the community around them and who we know nothing about!
The contribution of these unknown people often manifests in the lives of those who were touched by them and it has a ripple effect that causes deep positive change in the community they operate in. There are many examples of this truth. For example, think about the 4th grade teacher that helped Oprah find hope and purpose during the most challenging years of her childhood or the teacher that taught David Goggins how to overcome his learning disabilities through repetition and dedication). No one knew about their contribution until those who benefitted from it spoke about it.
Imagine what the world would look like if all of us engaged our passions and consequently contributed to the growth and change of our own little community. Just like the ocean is made of billions of tiny little drops of water coming together, this world too is made of billions of tiny little lives coming together. The more we engage in the discovery of ourselves the more we contribute to the improvement of the world.
It is our responsibility to be the best drop of water that we can ever be. If we did that, nobody would have to worry about the world 'cause it'd be the sum total of everybody's unique contribution and it would be the happy paradise that we all dream about.
Imagine if we all did that, one day...Just Imagine!
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For more info on your real self and your true desires please watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXaVvi0xXck&t=0s (full video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDhe-m84nbo (law of responsibility)