The Stranger
I was 16 years old when my close friends with mischievous delight played a song called “Killing an Arab” by The Cure because it would offend me and also because it was so unusual and catchy. Banned in parts of the Middle East, it was taboo and a representative example of the New Wave sound, and so they were naturally drawn to it. A high school teacher named Mr. Davis told me it was related to existentialism and suggested I read the original book “The Stranger” by Albert Camus. The story was not about Killing an Arab per se, but more about the nihilistic attitude of a man whose repressed emotions and contempt inexplicably led him to take a life when his own life was void of meaningful purpose. The character of that story was an alienated stranger. Deciding on a purpose with Attention Economics in mind is a great challenge today, but the benefits are immense. Neglect this important step, and you will forfeit power to deep losses.
Self-Awareness Is More Than Identity
When we think about the person others relate to as us: child, parent, sibling, employee, employer, citizen, id number, etc., who you really are is behind the masks is unclear. Over time, we can lose perspective. Playing these characters reveals a different side to our personality with some unique combination of traits that come through, but even so, you will change over time from experience. Peeling back the layers of the physical, mental, emotional, and other functional characteristics that make us unique, we realize that we are no more than simply aware. A self-awareness capacity varies by person, but it can develop through various practices and guidance.
Meditation teaches us that as the observer, we are not our thoughts or a set personality. As an observer, we can access both conscious and thoughts and subconscious experiences in memory. In the subconscious space of pure awareness, we possess mysterious capabilities that others identify as talents. For example, some individuals have demonstrated the ability for instant recall in vivid detail (Hyperthymesia). Some Individuals with blindness can demonstrate echolocation, or the ability to navigate their surroundings by using sound alone. While these capabilities are rare, practically everyone has skills and talents that are unusual and can be valuable if made to serve a purpose. Being self-aware is essential towards personal development, waking up from the malaise of anxieties, and setting goals.
Talents Lead the Way to Purpose
You can choose your purpose in life based on your interests, passions, role models, or something completely original. However, time is not likely on your side if you lack the self-awareness and natural ability required to succeed. Your best results will come from doing work that does not require force for you to do well. A talent that is identified early and nurtured by dedicated teachers yields the best results. Absent this good fortune, most people are left to determine their purpose based on what others acknowledge as their outstanding skills.
The ability to do difficult things with ease can make life easier but it does not define a purpose for you as others would recognize and reward with compensation and distinction. While becoming successful by way of validation and fame or fortune may not be the aim, there is a necessity to focus attention when it comes to being balanced and fulfilled. If for no reason other than to build and refine skills, a purpose has to be elected and adopted as an occupation. That occupation may not be directed to the marketplace as a decision.
If you decide to develop your skills and talents into a vocation, you must consider the importance of how your capabilities can be of benefit to others based on how they perceive value. In doing so, your inherent qualities can position you favorably with those skills towards solving problems, organizing knowledge, teaching others, entertaining an audience, or influencing the adoption of ideas. Usually, a person with a group of skills and talents can combine their skills, experience, and style into an act that serves as their brand identity.
The Advantages of Living With Purpose
History is filled with high achievers that dedicated their energy, time, and creativity to contribute extraordinary inventions enjoyed by the whole of our species. While most of us lack the exceptional abilities of Aristotle, Isaac Newton, Einstein, Tesla, Edison, Ford, and other figures who have applied their minds to achieve mass production economically, we can similarly appreciate the benefits of an engaged mind. Leading with Purpose is not just an individual phenomenon. In a report published by Imperative and LinkedIn, the results are in compelling for Leading firms and their employees. In their findings, 73% of purpose-oriented personnel were satisfied with their jobs vs. 64% that were not. Similarly, purpose-driven individuals were 50% more likely to be in Leadership positions and more likely to stay longer.
In addition to improving the odds of success in life-long pursuits, purpose-driven lifestyles where family, personal well-being, and goals are pursued demonstrates greater longevity, preservation of health, and a better quality of life. A purpose-driven approach yields Long term benefits and faster emotional recovery associated with painful loss and adversity in general. There are no real downsides to a purpose-driven life, apart from any unwise expectations that can lead to disillusionment and problems that follow poor decision making. To ensure this does not occur, the aspiring achiever should be mindful in evaluating risks and rewards before choosing a life purpose.
How To Select a Purpose
Selecting a purpose is a conscious choice, and should be an informed decision that is objective yet based on motivation. As the early pioneer that established a classification system based on psychology, Carl Jung proposed psychological topologies that continue to influence careers, relationship compatibility, and other long-term decisions. By far, the Myers Briggs Type Indicator is the most popular and widely used method for classifying personality types. This framework has shown high correlations in predicting professional career placements. In my previous professional role, a lengthy 2-hour assessment was used to identify me as an INTJ personality type. As such, I was ideally suited to planning and orchestrating changes from a conceptual standpoint. While the general personality traits are accurate, there are unique attributes that correspond to interests in terms of field such as Research, Law, Business, Medicine, Sports, etc.
Besides the function itself that a career serves, there is the actual work itself. For example, a close friend of mine regretted choosing the field of Law as his area of interest because he felt the actual work he performed was proofreading documents. This is not to say that this is his entire future is doomed as a result of that choice, however, his motivation to pursue his original vision changed when he was actually in his career. Similarly, before selecting my Business major, I worked as a subcontractor for Arthur Andersen in Chicago, then a prestigious Accounting firm. It was during this period that I was exposed to the actual work that is conducted by Accountants and opted in favor of a different path. Once on that path, I further specialized toward an industry that has served as my area of expertise for 23 years. Selecting a purpose requires a significant amount of background research and an understanding of the actual work to ensure a fit.
Your Life Long Pursuit of Purpose and Fulfillment
Ikigai, or the Japanese term for “Your reason for being” goes beyond the choice of education, career, and external measures of success. It is worthy of your consideration as it also factors into your consideration what you are also good at doing once you embark on your journey. It is difficult to know this before you actually discover this for yourself until experience proves it to be so. A recent article in Forbes shares valuable insights for Business Entrepreneurs that have some experience behind them. You will need to invest time and effort to arrive at your conclusions. There may be a number of talents and skills that are latent to you that only through work you will find.
The process to establish this direction is a trial and error process of making decisions and narrowing the possibilities to those few competencies where you can leverage to create value and thereby enjoy the results of the work that you deliver. It is likely that you will need to dedicate a significant amount of time exploring and consulting with knowledgable and thoughtful mentors to arrive at the path that best fits your abilities, aspirations, personality, and aptitude. There is a master formula to success as suggested here on the SELF-CARE site. A good starting point toward refining the process before you determine that you have isolated the best approach possible.