The first 20-25 years of our life we spend studying. We want to achieve lots of knowledge so formal education is the way most of us know that will help us accomplish this goal. Others attend informal education courses. Most of the time we read books, do lots of homework and assignments, attend classes and courses, maybe go abroad for an exchange study program.
Then the time for studies comes to an end. Students start to worry and ask themselves and mostly around the question “What job shall I take?” And somehow, they get one. Many in the corporate world.
From this moment on starts the phase: “I am a grown-up now, I must achieve a lot.” We wake up early in the morning. Get the tube. Read tens of emails. Call the customers. Correct the newsletter. Organize the meeting. Ignore the manager’s behavior. Get quick lunch. Cancel the meeting. Listen to that mandatory boring webcast. Take a deep breath to keep going. Read emails. Send emails. Flag emails. Flip your badge. Take the tube. Maybe do grocery shopping. Cook/ Stay online/ Watch TV. Sleep.
This is the life of many young professionals I know. Of course, the tasks differ from job to job. Emails remain though.
So I realized that for many young people, life is a series of small and dissatisfied daily actions. We stop learning.
We stop thought-provoking conversations with friends because a) we don’t have time to meet each other; b) we don’t have energy for serious talk. “Let’s have some fun”, huh? We stop reading books. “What’s the purpose of reading if our lives suck? Anyway we read our whole life. It’s enough to have learned what we have to know.”
We stop going to training courses. The lucky ones who were part of youth organizations attend courses on: how to be a good leader, communicate effectively, negotiate smartly, do impactful presentations, use Photoshop, and so on. We don’t want to learn new skills and we don’t want to invest a part of our first salary in a 200-300 euro training.
We stop dreaming of our passions and gifts. “There is no point in imagining what I could have done if I had been stubborn with my childhood dreams.”
So that is how our lives become plain. A 9 to 6 job. Too tired to do something meanginful after work, so better to have a chit-chat with a friend who is as unhappy as we are. We cook and drop a picture on instagram. Our lives look cool.
Weekends are for long sleep, cleaning messy apartment, and doing shopping so that we can buy some happiness that will last for a couple of minutes.
We forgot that we are much more than our jobs, and properties. We live while we are asleep. No joy, no laugher, no creativity, no kindness, no freedom, no courage, no curiosity, no progress, no questions, no love. We conform to this society.
Those of you who know what I am talking about, please, wake up. You are much more than your job title, daily auto-pilot acts, fancy cars, nice apartments, brand new clothes, glam social media accounts.
You are beyond the surface image you want to project. You have a soul beyond your ego. That soul is hungry to be, to love, to care, to do good, to share kindness. It wants to feel joy, excitement, curiosity, beauty, admiration, adventure and creativity.
Free it. Let it live.
Do what you love.
Explore yourself and the world around you.
Ask questions.
Get out of your comfort zone.
Do good.
Be vulnerable.
Open up. Discover your limits, fears, beliefs and dreams.
Go for them.
Learn. Unlearn. Relearn.
Let ideas flourish inside you.
Create.
Try. Again and again and again.
Listen to humans’ stories.
Explore new places.
Believe and contribute to a humanitarian cause.
Learn new things.
Stay positive.
You are the only one responsible for your own happiness.
Don’t wait for others to make you happy.
Ask yourself if you are happy and at peace now. If not, start the transformation process.
Read how other humans succeeded in their lives.
Explore yourself. Face your fears. Find your own beliefs. Transform negativity into positivity.
Have patience along the process.
Create a project you believe in that will help others.
Be mindful.
And do good. As much as you can.
I am learning to do all these as good as I can + to enjoy the process. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I learn.
Sooner or later, our lives will come to an end. When the time comes to look back, make sure you created one that was worth living.
Great article! Thanks much.