Hi Everybody,
AJ here. I hope everyone is enjoying their week in Cultivating Purpose!
I just got done meditating on what's important to me, and I've been thinking a lot about what used to be important to me that isn't as important to me anymore. For many years, my goal was career advancement. In college, I had been fed the idea that personal worth comes from the job one has. Either the job I have will be fulfilling and help the planet, or the job I have will be prestigious and make me a lot of money; and if I'm really lucky, I can have it all.
Well, the thing about a Sociology degree is that it doesn't set you up for many career opportunities. If I wanted to get a job that fulfills me and helps the world, I would have had to go to graduate school, which at the time I didn't think was an option, since I already wasted $120,000 of my parents' money without acquiring any marketable skills.
So, I entered the workforce, and found a job that suited me well. From there, I decided to focus on career goals and making money as the things that would drive my life forward.
So, for the next 7 years, I embarked no a quest to become a Sales Director for a small Craft Brewery. Luckily for me, years of hard work paid off and I was finally able to start my own sales & marketing program from scratch. At this point, my career goal had been reached & I thought I had made it. Now, I thought, I am finally fulfilled, because I have reached this career and financial milestone. Well, that feeling of fulfillment never came. Months passed, and I still felt unfulfilled. I was confused by this-- I thought accomplishing something I worked for years to get would be eternally satisfying... but I wasn't. I was still the same person I was for all those years-- lost, confused, and somewhat hopeless. I thought 'is this how I'm going to feel for my entire life? Unfulfilled and kind of plodding along, looking for fleeting milestones and successes that don't sustain me?'
I decided I needed to meditate and contemplate on my situation, and perhaps through mindfulness I can break through this dilemma and see my optimal future.
Well, after meditating on it for a long time, I discovered what I had subconsciously known for many years: I will never feel fulfilled unless I start acting on what's truly important to me, rather than what I convinced myself was important 7 years ago.
So I decided to start from scratch, and contemplate and meditate on what is truly important to me. This inspired me to write down what was important, rather than just think about it. I felt that if I kinesthetically worked out my thoughts, and if I saw these things written down in front of me, it will be easier to analyze and understand these desires and priorities.
The result was life-changing; for the first time in my life I was staring at the things I wanted in my life, and I was forced to think about ways I've avoided these things & ways I can re-incorporate these things into my life. I also realized that career attainment was nowhere on my list of most important things-- at this point, career attainment seems pointless if I can't do the things I love, like spend time with family and be out in nature. Literally the only thing I had been living for my entire adult life was not even that important to me. I realized I needed to change some things, and since I identified what's important to me, my life has been incredibly more fulfilling and purposeful.
This was the first step in my journey of Cultivating Purpose.
Leave a comment below and tell us about your experience with Identifying What's Important!
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Namaste,
AJ