There are 7 truths you must accept on your journey to a purpose-driven life. Some are harsh and difficult to accept. Others sound simple but are far from easy. No matter if you are just starting out or feel like a seasoned personal improvement veteran, these 7 truths you cannot ignore.
During my time in academia, I worked as a teaching assistant. To give feedback to students, I often had to employ the communication technique called "praise and blame" - otherwise known as "the s$%t sandwich". Its goal is to wrap any negative feedback in between two positive statements to make the other person feel better about the feedback. The problem with this technique? It's ineffective!
So, I am going to give it to you straight instead. Here are the 7 truths you must accept to create a purpose-driven life.
This sounds harsh. But it's by far the most important lesson to learn. It’s the hardest one, too.
Chances are you have family, friends, and maybe even a few role models in your life. You've probably relied on them in the past to support you, help you, and inspire you.
When it comes to forging clarity and turning your life around it’s all up to you.
Luckily, this is going to be one of the most liberating realizations in the years to come. Whatever resistance you may feel towards this truth today is a necessary catalyst for your growth tomorrow.
You have it within you to save yourself. Every human being has it within them. Most just forgot.
To become a Phoenix rising from the ashes you must burn first - Anonymous
Do you seriously believe that five minutes of meditation is going to counteract 23 hours and 55 minutes of you mastering the art of distraction?! You really think yet another productivity hack is going to cut it? Or do you hope that once you have figured out your purpose you’re done?
Living a purpose-driven life is going to require real effort – lots of blood, sweat, and tears. You must put in the work. Period. There are no shortcuts when it comes to your personal improvement or any other venture you deem worthwhile.
A wall full of diplomas only proofs one thing. It certifies your ability to play a game effectively. Your diplomas reflect how well you were able to use a system to your advantage. Cramming tons of information into your head the night before an exam has nothing to do with learning.It has a lot to do with unlocking yet another shortsighted achievement badge.
Personally, I had to take it as far as getting a PhD diploma to learn that no form of schooling or university education will fill the void in my life. If I had been truly smart and not just educated, I would have never done a PhD in the first place. I would have gone out into the world far sooner to take purposeful action – real action that, in my opinion, creates far more value.
Don’t let your diplomas blind you. Being educated is no guarantee for a purpose-driven life.
Schools and universities do a great job training people’s analytical capability. But these institutions are terrible at teaching how to take action.
Over-education too often leads to over-analyzing. And over-analyzing frequently ends in analysis paralysis – the state where taking action is replaced by even more thinking.
Taking action can be messy and frustrating. Especially in the beginning when failure is probable and outcomes are uncertain. Yet it’s the only way to test the validity of your assumptions.
It’s paramount that you cultivate the ability to take action.
Taking action and the potential for failure go hand in hand. As a baby, attempting to walk, you didn’t get it right the first time, or the second. Your diaper-pooping butt had to hit the floor countless times before getting it right. So, you failed a lot.
As you got older, you started to believe you can get things right the first time – all the time – and that failure is something to be avoided at all cost.
You would be far better off remembering that failure is an opportunity if you take the time to learn your lesson. It doesn’t matter how long it will take to get it right, how many times life will knock you down. As long as you get back up, you’re fine.
Just never quit! EVER! Walking away from the problem isn’t the solution. There’s always another option. You may not see it today, but there is. So keep trying. Your diaper-pooping butt learned to walk eventually.
It’s okay to fail, but never quit.
If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid - Epictetus
You’re going to come across countless tools that will help you realize your potential. The overwhelming majority is really simple stuff.
Here’s an example: Sit down and focus for two hours.
Sounds simple, yes? But I’m talking about real focus, distraction-free focus, flow-achieving focus. Once you try you may discover how not so easy this actually is.
Think about it this way. If it were simple and easy, everybody would have mastered themselves years ago.
You are free to ignore all the above truths and continue on your current path in life. That’s a valid choice. You can walk away from this advice for now, change your mind, and come back later (that’s failing, not quitting). That’s another choice.
The question is just this: How much more regret will you have to live with because of the time you wasted until then?
Don’t get me wrong. The point here is not to guilt-trip you. It’s to remember that there’s always a choice.
None of these 7 truths are ground-breaking revelations. Yet they're sometimes really tough to accept. If you want to live a purpose-driven life, there's no way around them, however.
Think about how do these 7 truths apply to your current situation? Which one do you struggle to accept the most?
