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What Are You Designed to Do?
A philosophical inquiry: what were you designed to do in your life? Or in more precise words, what do you wish to designate yourself to do in life? #zenoferic
Download PDF: What are you designed to do
First of all, we were all born and thrust into the world without our prior approval or desire. Nobody could have controlled whether he or she was born. We simply were born — it was the wish of our parents (or because of them) that we were born.
Now, we are alive. If you’re reading this, you’re alive and (not yet) dead.
And assuming you have your basic needs met (warmth, food, water), you’re not dying.
To the question is this:
What should I do with my life?
Or more specifically,
What should I direct my mental and physical energy towards?
I think by either chance or by our own efforts, we all have different skills, attributes, and strengths. Some of us are really good with technology, some of us are really good at public speaking, some of us are really good at dancing and singing, and some of us are really good planners, others of us are good at leading.
Now — regardless of what your skills are, consider the following:
- You can always develop new skills.
- You can continue to build upon your pre-existing strengths.
- Your biology or genetics doesn’t determine your future.
In other words, you have free will to direct your life in any way you wish, desire, and choose.
For myself, I think I was designed to teach, share, write, create information, distill information-knowledge, and to seek wisdom to empower others.
I was born in the golden days of the Internet —AOL 3.0, 28.8k modems (before 56k), and my interests have always been at the intersection of art, philosophy, happiness-seeking, self-improvement, and technology.
I have very specialized skills which suit me; I’m good at distilling information and making it practical, I’m good at building tech-internet stuff, and I have the audacity and brazenness to share all of this online, for free (open source).
Now, I love blogging, because it’s just a “web log” of my online activities. Blogging is never final or complete: I feel like the digital Heraclitus, swimming in the digital kanji pool of green 1s and 0s. I’m always changing, evolving, and adapting — and openly sharing with others everything I learn as I grow. I’m not right or wrong in what I share; I just try to stay as open, transparent, and honest as possible. What works for me won’t work for others.
But in short, I was designed to blog.
What were you designed to do?
What are your strengths in life? What are your interests? If you could connect all these things on a cork board, how would you imagine the strings to connect (remember the scene from “A Beautiful Mind”).
You can dictate what you desire to do with your life; what you decide to create, make, and share. You can be like Burger King and “have it your way”.
So friend, recognize you’re a unique individual, with unique gifts, skills, and talents.
Just reflect on these questions:
- “What are my strengths in life, in which I’m probably 10x better at when compared with others?” (this is your Archimedes lever — the skillset you can leverage to best make an impact on the world and society).
- “What am I naturally enthusiastic and passionate about?” In other words, when you’re procrastinating on “working”—what are the fun side-passion projects you work on? That’s probably what you should be doing all the time. For example, when I’m procrastinating on doing my taxes, I like to blog, write, research, and share ideas.
- “What do I want my legacy to be after I die?” What would you want to have written on your tombstone —the 1 thing you want to be remembered for? The 1 thing that future generations will be influenced and positively affected by?
BE BOLD, BE BRAZEN, and “do you” (do what you’re designed to do!)
ERIC