I like to think I don’t have conflicting ideas in what I want to pursue or how I want to live my life. I would love to think that, but turns out life is a bit more complicated than that. At least in my perspective. On one hand, I want to pursue a career in this field or that field, but sometimes it is hard to put my mind to something. But I’m trying to find things out, day by day.

What is Purpose?

To me, the best description I have received of purpose was from David Deida in The Way of the Superior Man. It is best described as a set of rings. In our lives, we have a set of rings that are like purpose rings, like the layers of an onion. As we progress in life, we continue to shed the rings that we define as purpose until we hopefully receive the time to fulfill our deepest purpose.

For example, when we are young, a purpose might be to hit the gym and get jacked, and when we get to about 30, maybe that purpose isn’t so meaningful and we want to work on our career and financial success. As we get to retirement, maybe our purpose will to be devoted to God. So it goes, as a list of tasks that we pursue in our life. Neither task is necessarily wrong at any point of time, just a product of the time of your life you are engaged in. Judging people and their goals is hard, so let’s focus on our own desires.

How to Work Towards it?

If we assume purpose is a set of rings, I believe all we can do is try to progress deeper into the source, removing all unnecessary layers and trying to live our deepest desires. To be honest, I have no idea what my deepest purpose is, and that’s okay. I might only figure that out when I’m 85 years old, if I get there. But again, if it’s hard to decipher the ultimate path, what can we do?

All we can do is choose our actions today effectively. We only control the present moment. Choose the right action today. We shouldn’t look too far into the future, that point in time is very unpredictable. As I am about to start my last year of college, all I need to do now is pick where I want to pursue a career in. I have chosen cybersecurity. Is it right? Is it wrong? That is hard to say, maybe the internet turns off tomorrow. Who knows? We should only make decisions based on the present moment and the knowledge we have. And just try to make decisions that will benefit you.

Conclusion

This journal may not have been the most informative journal out there in the subject of purpose. I could have done some additional research actually. Therefore it would have contributed more to my current knowledge. But I didn’t. I think Deida just gives a great explanation, and I would encourage readers to look to that book for more information. That’s my present knowledge right now. Like I believe cybersecurity will be a good place to start my career. Maybe it turns out terribly, but that’s okay. We’ll discover a new purpose soon with patience, conscious thought, and perseverance. If you don’t have a good purpose, as I once did, just start experimenting with things until you find something that you like. You don’t need love at first sight in order to live happily ever after.