My true purpose in life is to create and embody systems that allow anyone to live exceptionally.
Pretty condensed and to the point... Let me walk you through what's behind it.
In general, I believe that if a person desires (and is willing to pursue) an exceptional life, then they should have access to the means to make it happen. I'm brainstorming different words than "exceptional" to convey my exact connotation, but basically I mean a "well" life - a happy one - orders of magnitude more enjoyable and fulfilling than that experienced by those on autopilot. You see people everywhere *dragging* themselves through their day. Choked by a necktie, grinding through life in a man-made jungle, becoming pale under the flicker of florescent tubes.
If someone wants to reach their full potential of happiness and fulfillment (they want to rise with a spring in their step and a smile on their face) then in today's age they should have the means - regardless of who they are or where they currently are.
There is a lack of resources to enable someone to live well. There is a need for something more than generalities, quick fixes, and consulting services. What is required is a system. A system is composed of resources and processes - it provides a structured means to achieving a goal. Resources could be reference information or stores offering specialized goods. Processes are documented, step-by-step instructions on how to do something. A process, as with all things, is never perfect (and may be pretty far off base) but it is powerful because it allows you to tweak and experiment with what you do in order to make improvements over time.
I am an architect and a creative person, so I envision myself designing these systems to enable people. The word that struck a chord with me was "create". The act of creation is engaging and fulfilling - it really captured the emotion I was feeling. It is my nature to be creative - it was what I was born to do.
Unfortunately, isolated ideas lack even the force of a Martian wind - they are insubstantial. In order for ideas to make a difference they need to be implemented - made real. I chose the word "embodied". It connotes bringing the ideas into physical reality and "having something to show for them". It also implies that I myself will live the ideas - that I will enable my life to become what I dream it to be. This resolved the debate of "should my purpose be to better myself, or to altruistically devote myself to helping my fellow humans?"... it was not a win-lose decision anymore.
Throughout this process I have been wary of becoming like the get-rich-quick guru that tells you how to make a fortune - when he himself got rich by telling people how to get rich. I don't want to come up with "my purpose is to help people find their purpose". That is ridiculous - what insight would I truly have to offer into other people's struggle for purpose? Instead my working purpose statement aims at creating the tools to allow a person who has set a goal to reach it.
That last thought has put my thinking down a different siding - back to free-writing for a bit to explore the implications :)
2 comments:
When you free write, do you type or hand write?
Typing - so much faster (at least for me). If you don't keep up quick enough it is easy for your thoughts to get derailed.
On the other hand, part of the reason writing helps (other than breaking you out of mental loops) is to slow your thinking down.
I find typing is just about right.
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