5 Pointers That Can Help You Align With Your Purpose

Have you figured out what to do in your life?

If not or if you’re actively experimenting, here are 5 pointers that can help you in your journey.

Keep experimenting until you figure out what you want to do, maybe it’s a lifelong pursuit.

Putting out my perspectives inspired by science and philosophy.

It’s a self-mentoring read for me as well.

If you have already figured it out, go forth blazing your path.

Here you go.

1. Saturn theory

This might seem like an astrological mumbo jumbo. But hear me out.

I believe a lot of the stuff we see around is interconnected in ways that we cannot find a scientific explanation for.

In some sense, some realities are present but not scientifically explained. Science in a way helps us to explain stuff, which doesn’t mean that if we haven’t yet explained it by science, it is not there.

I have started seeing some real insights from astrological research. The ones which we commonly hear are just misinterpreted facts, but there are deeper studies on this aspect.

This is one such thing. Saturn completes one revolution around the sun every 27 to 28 years. And if you closely notice, a lot of your thinking and values have changed in your mid to late twenties.

Saturn itself is not the sole reason 🙂

I feel it relatable, maybe a placebo effect. But I have observed people and this seems to be a valid thought.

So if you feel a bit confused about your decisions after your mid-20s to early 30s, this is a possible scenario.

Sometimes, life will shuffle you up to make you wiser for a better tomorrow.

It can be that life is just shuffling your life up for the next phase.

I’m not messing up with you here. This is a real point to think about even if you don’t believe in astrology.

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/saturn-return-stories-astrology-meaning

https://link.medium.com/Xs1emPUqQrb

2. Rekindle your hobbies

Take a moment and think about this.

When did you develop your hobbies?

For most of us, it is when we were kids.

We picked up interests as kids based on what lights us from inside. No external rewards was the main factor back then.

We had a lot of spare time to fool around with our imagination back then.

We have taken up things that interest us without much of an afterthought – can I make money off of it? Will it be helpful in the future?

We have taken up interests with our innocent thoughts with the sole purpose of intrinsic happiness.

And now, when life got in the way, our hobbies just went off in their own direction.

Hobbies are not mutually exclusive to our other ‘serious’ pursuits like most of us think. But in fact, they empower our ‘serious’ pursuits

If you really think about it, and it is scientifically proven – hobbies positively influence whatever you do – the big stuff 🙂

Not mutually exclusive at all like we all think.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/02/3-science-backed-reasons-having-a-hobby-will-help-your-career.html

And the better part – they give us clues on where our interest lies.

So if you haven’t figured out anything that remotely aligns with your purpose, just look back, and dust out those hobbies.

That can give you some insights.

3. Look at the stuff that bothers you

Look around or scroll-pause when you find something that bothers you.

We all have something.

That is for sure.

Now, figure that out.

It can be just about anything. Figure out what bothers you – in a sense, this means that you have better ideas on these stuff to make it better.

It may be a social cause or anything that’s much more personal.

Maybe you tear up when you see old people not taken care of.

Or pets get abused.

Or substance addictions or gender inequality or environmental cause or global warming and climate change specifically

or fewer women representation in leadership positions or young people not represented in politics and policy making

or any human rights issue or pollution or religions dividing people or caste-based systems or reservation systems

or online privacy or unhappiness of the people around you or any important causes not getting the relevant attention

or false belief systems or road safety or tech improving the world or changing world order or economic inequalities

or mindfulness or sustainable product usage or plastic issues or anything that bothers you.

It can be just about anything. Look at what bothers you and try improving those aspects in any way possible. Every little action counts.

And I’m sure you’ll find some.

Spend some time improving this aspect in some way.

4. Voice out your opinion and express it in some way

Making your network aware of it counts as well.

If you look around, most systems around us work on a majority factor. Things happen as per the majority opinion.

A democratic system elects the party that has a majority. The policy-making system alone affects a ton of things that affects our lives.

A lot of our systems operates on this concept. The majority opinion wins in the end and becomes the standard rules for the society. If you don’t express your opinion, the end rules becomes biased. If you care about the people around you and the society we live in, expressing your opinion is the basic action you can take – cast your votes, answer public surveys, if you thing something’s not right, express it politely,….You may notbe right all the time, but you give your opinions a fair chance to play out against opposing ideas. And when a lot of people agree on the good stuff that they need through their opinions, those becomes the standard systems of the society – through policies, rights, changes,…

Do you complain about the rising fuel prices?

Do you care about the inflation rates – a dollar is almost 80 INR today?

Even if you don’t care, do you care about the lower section of society, inflation hikes up everything that we buy including groceries. It affects everyone.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2022/03/18/inflation-could-wreak-vengeance-on-the-worlds-poor/

I’m not gonna write here about what policy changes around the world caused this – maybe later?

But a lot of irrational decisions by the world leaders led us to where we are with this now.

There was a study done on this. (I don’t remember the source, but the gist is this)

We all can agree that the way younger generations do things have changed dramatically. We consume content, get our news and info, communicate, do our fun stuff through newer channels. We do all our essentials – getting food, buying groceries, commuting – in newer ways. We express our opinions on public matters, get into relationships, express our love,… -thorugh newer channels. But, have these changes reflected in our systems yet? It’s coming up but far far slower. I’d really like to see a consensus system to form policies by taking open online secured surveys. Things take time, I understand, but a lot of this delay is due to the unequal representation of younger population in policy making.

In countries where the population growth rate has declined, the rights and needs of the younger population are not adequately represented.

The reason?

Less young population means a lesser number of younger voters. That means the reps that align with the younger beliefs and value systems get trumped by older belief systems because that represents more votes.

As part of the younger population, you may think this – LGBTQ rights is a common sense thing, right?

But think about it, why is it still not an open common sense policy all across the world?

Like I said before, the policymakers are not comprised of an adequate younger population – the new belief systems.

We’re making progress on this front for sure. But, far slower than required. In India, we scrapped the section 377 on September 2018 ultimately legalising homosexuality in India. Think about it, it became a right in India just less than 4 years back. Have it been there a more younger population in our govt. and admin systems, things like these would have been given far more importance. Again, I’m not complaining, but unequal representation of younger generations in govt. policy making affects more things that you think. Voice out your opinion using the channels you use.

Just want to remind you this – voice out or express your opinion in some way.

It can be a simple poll or it can be a vote or standing up for something that you believe in.

Let all opinions play out and the logical ones win.

Standing up for something you passionately believe in does one more thing – it throws some light on the path towards your purpose.

5. Take advantage of the Medici effect

This concept comes from a book by Frans Johansson.

But before that, just a question.

What do you think about this scenario?

Lakshya has studied Civil engineering, but he got a good consulting job at Goldman Sachs and worked there for 6 years. Now he’s planning to move into marketing, a completely new industry because he likes it.

He’s standing on a shaky-stone decision.

He’s asking for your advice.

What’s your suggestion?

A lot of us think it’s a bs idea because he’s invested tons of energy and time into his consulting role, but he’ll be a fresher in marketing.

But here’s the catch.

Mixing up fields and skills spark up innovations. And there’s no sunk opportunity cost in your any kind of experience. It’s a positive sum game afterall.

Frans Johansson doesn’t think this at all. After reading him, I too think the same on this.

In fact, we both think it is a great idea 🙂

When you walk into a new field, you see things from a completely new perspective, that people in that industry will never be able to come up with.

You’re coming up with an extremely different lens to a new industry and you see tons of things that you can make better there.

Johansson argues that innovation comes from diverse industries, cultures, and disciplines when they all intersect, bringing ideas from one field into another. This is the breeding ground for innovation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Medici_Effect

And that’s one of the reasons why engineering + MBA becomes a valuable combo.

So if you’re a chartered accountant, and you have a real passion and skill for fashion modeling, go on.

You see things with a new lens when you get into a brand new industry. In the current world, where innovations and new ideas are valued much more than anything, this is an insane value – and not a disadvantage. Your inexperience in a new filed becomes your strength to come up with new ideas, perspectives and innovations.

We get stuck in most careers because of the sunk opportunity cost.

But remember, there’s no opportunity cost in career transitions, any move to a new field is an opportunity for you to innovate.

And if that transition makes you happier, what beats that.

Peace- out! Image – The Lennon Wall, Prague, Czech Republic

Now, those are the 5 pointers for you to try out.

And possibly brings you closer to figuring out things for your life.

For everyone who hasn’t yet figured out or actively experimenting with what to do in their life, these pointers might help.

In a way, this is self-mentoring for me as well.

For all of you who have figured it out, we might need some advice 🙂

Love you all 🖤

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