Having a purpose-driven life.

It's funny how life sometimes brings you back into the life you used to have, back to the things you used to like, back to things you used to do. I guess internet makes it easier to get back to it. It's nearing 2020 and as I was browsing through this blog, I was reading some posts and realised that nothing much as changed. I mean of course I have matured (a bit), I got to know myself a bit more and am less insecure than I used to be. But one thing my 'old' me has in common with the 'now' me is the urge to find my purpose or passion and somehow I end up always having to write about this. I feel like this will clear my head a bit and bring me a step closer to my purpose. Maybe a small recap off my current life is necessary to get to the point of this post (not even sure that there's a point), but I have been in my head a couple of days now, whether to write stuff down for once, after reading a bit about 'ikigai' (finding one's purpose).

So back in 2016, I kinda stopped writing when I was living in Taiwan and that time I was doubting about my career choices. I finished my Bachelors, but was in this (what I back-in-the-days referred as a) 'quarter-life' crisis. Looking back, I might have been a tiny bit overdramatic, but it was what I was feeling at that time nonetheless. And maybe it was necessary to come to the point of where I am now. I went back to do my masters in Strategic Design, with renewed excitement. I felt like a step closer to my purpose or at least felt like I got my life together. I had a blast during my studies and learned a lot, mostly about myself, but also careerwise. Now I'm a recent graduate and back to the point of how I felt during 2016. Maybe not to that extreme, but feeling a bit wonky about my path. I keep on being obsessed about knowing and finding what my purpose is, and have all these ideas of where I could be and could do. I like so many things and am interested in many things, but is it something that's worthwhile exploring? And because of all these ideas, I'm stuck doing nothing. I'm also feeling inpatient. Am I the only one feeling like this sometimes?

I've been researching a bit on this idea of 'finding your purpose'. And if you've read some of my previous posts, I have been doing this for a while now. And I came across two ideas that really struck to me and left me feeling a bit more grounded and guided. 

1. I found this on @Thefuturishere instagram about making your passion your work. It talked about a Dr. Steven Tomlinson asking the same question to one of his advisor. "I love business, I love economics and I love the theatre. Which one should I pick (for my career)?". His advisor replied "that is the STUPIDEST question anyone has ever asked me". "Don't discard the three things you love. This is not how things work. You might not end up with a career, but you will end up with a life. Find a way to keep all three of these things in the mix. Let them talk to each other." - From the podcast "Stealing like an artist with Austin Kleon -Part 2.

2. I also recently discovered the term 'ikigai', also through TheFutur (seriously they are my lifesaver). It's about finding one's purpose. I think unbeknownst to myself I have been doing this throughout my whole studies. It's about combining things you love, you're skilled at, what the world needs and things that pays.

These two things seriously helped me not feeling alone in this and also help me realise that liking many things is okay and I won't be needing to discard any thing. It's all about balancing the stuff. The funny thing is that I know I should be actively doing one of these things I mentioned, but instead I felt the urge to write about it. Maybe writing about finding one's purpose is in 'the mix of things I like/love' and maybe even something that 'the world might need'. *Fun fact: My master thesis was about purpose-driven brands.*

I hope with this post I at least help someone out there with the same struggle as I am going through. I know that this post is a bit all over the place, but I felt I needed to write this down, unedited.



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