My Purpose in Life and Key Values
I read the article on how to find my purpose in life, and I did honestly try to approach it with an open mind. Unfortunately, just as I suspected, there was a 100% chance that I was never going to write something down and cry. Something I have realized in the past and have reaffirmed, though, is that I am an extremely passionate person. I considered writing "about many things" at the end of the previous sentence; however, when I honestly evaluate myself, I have realized that it really does not matter what I am talking about. I tend to become very attached to some idea, and I have to choose one side or the other. If there is something I can not make up my mind on, I become infuriated with the topic and have a mental battle with myself until I can choose a definitive side.
Now that I have warmed up that topic of being so passionate about so many things, you may be able to see why this activity did not work very well for me. Essentially all the topics I came up with; whether it be to help others become better people, traveling to incredible places in the world, gaining knowledge, etc.; resulted in a seeming underwhelming yet still passionate rage in my body. For that reason, I have just decided that my purpose in life is probably the thing that gets me more fired up than anything else.
I really enjoy becoming the best person I can be, and I like to help do the same for the other people around me. For that reason, my purpose in life is to help the people around me become the healthiest, happiest, and best educated people they can be.
This is very different than what the example the author of the article gave us. I found his to be extremely vague and essentially viable to everyone. I have no idea how that statement made him cry because I feel that it does not provide much direction. My statement is also not perfect in the fact that it is also kind of vague, but you can pretty easily get the idea of the statement. I want to go help people enjoy their lives more fully. There is one clear goal, and it combines some of my biggest values: helping others, health, positivity, and education.
Now that I have warmed up that topic of being so passionate about so many things, you may be able to see why this activity did not work very well for me. Essentially all the topics I came up with; whether it be to help others become better people, traveling to incredible places in the world, gaining knowledge, etc.; resulted in a seeming underwhelming yet still passionate rage in my body. For that reason, I have just decided that my purpose in life is probably the thing that gets me more fired up than anything else.
I really enjoy becoming the best person I can be, and I like to help do the same for the other people around me. For that reason, my purpose in life is to help the people around me become the healthiest, happiest, and best educated people they can be.
This is very different than what the example the author of the article gave us. I found his to be extremely vague and essentially viable to everyone. I have no idea how that statement made him cry because I feel that it does not provide much direction. My statement is also not perfect in the fact that it is also kind of vague, but you can pretty easily get the idea of the statement. I want to go help people enjoy their lives more fully. There is one clear goal, and it combines some of my biggest values: helping others, health, positivity, and education.
My Competencies |
When I look at the things I am good at, the number one thing that comes up is motivating others. This is an enormous strength of mine. I am personally very charismatic and convincing. Typically the way I convince people is to use positivity. I can make people act like they are having a better time than they really are, which can get them to eventually get the job done in a timely manner; however, I also can drive out peoples' inner motivations. For instance, when I work out with people, I find ways that are personal to them that they can motivate themselves, and I do it externally. In short, I tell them what they should be thinking, and I can awaken an inner passion within them to get their job done. All in all, I am just good at motivating people.
|
Another one of my strengths is discipline. Because I am so good at motivating people and I put myself through many hardships, I have trained myself to be extremely discipline. I can force myself to work when I really want to procrastinate. I can look a delicious cake right in the eye and choose not to eat it. I can force myself to go to the gym even when I feel ill. I can get myself to do things that others cannot because I am at peace in my mind and have the discipline.
Finally, strangely enough, I am good at crunching numbers. Another thing that people tend to hate, but I suppose this goes along with my discipline. I really enjoy mathematics and economics, and that is rubbing off into my degree. I am picking up a double major in data analytics because I enjoy crunching numbers. I was gifted with a math mind, and I really enjoy learning about all sorts of math subjects because of it.
|
My Weaknesses
Now comes the hard part because no one wants to discuss what they are bad at. An old weakness of mine was self awareness, but I have gotten better overtime to realize there are plenty of things wrong with myself. I believe that comes with confidence of not caring what other people think of you. I used to be extremely insecure, so I became defensive about my weaknesses. I am now pretty good at finding what I do wrong and what I need to fix.
The one thing I have always been open with is my inability to read. I figured since it was so glaring, I should get it out of the way first. This is not literal in the sense that I can't read because I can read words, but any time a sentence is even remotely complicated, I will have to reread it numerous times to understand what it is saying. Often times when I read, I will ask myself to summarize what I just read on a page, and many times I will find that I could've just read jumbles of letters because I retained no information. I have to be told things because reading for me is slow and unproductive.
|
Another weakness I have goes back to my extreme passion. I develop opinions that I do not want to change unless cold hard facts can be presented to me, which means more often than not, a combination of my charisma and stubbornness can steer groups that I work in to do whatever I want. Obviously, I do not find this to be a problem because I get my way usually, but if there is another person in the group that has a similar personality or I happen to be wrong, big problems will arise. Fortunately a big strength of mine now is self awareness, so I can realize when I am in the wrong, but my passion can cause issues.
What Do Others Say About Me? I don't know whether I should say this is fortunate or unfortunate, but people tend to speak very highly of me. People gave me attributes such as likable, positive, outgoing, energetic, self-motivated, physically fit, and savvy. These are all words I would also use to describe myself as well, but there is nothing I need to work on necessarily.
|
Under the skills section, people tended to tell me that I was good at motivating, coaching, learning, team building, solving problems, and managing conflict. I find this section pretty interesting, because out of the many skills that people could have said about me, pretty much everything is a soft skill. Apparently people do not think of me as much of a hard skills kind of person. I guess that is not necessarily saying I am bad at the hard skills, but it is good that people think I am good with soft skills, especially because it is apparently the soft skills that get you places in life. Hopefully this means I am going places!
My greatest strength varied slightly, but it always tended to be a similar thing: dealing with people. People told me I was good at things like brightening others' days and motivating people, which I have found heart-warming. There was a bit more variance in the weakness, but I agree with everything said. Someone pointed out my awful reading ability. Others told me that I can occasionally be too intense, which stems from my extreme passion over everything. The last of my weaknesses typically dealt with my passion about everything as well. Some people felt that I can sometimes dominate groups without realizing it because people tend to listen to me, which I agree. I try to fix this by forcing myself to always ask others opinions in group and encourage people to disagree with me to keep myself in check.
|
What other people say about me versus what I say about myself pretty much matches right up. I have become extremely self aware and know when I am in the wrong, so it is reassuring to know other people think the same thing that I do. This proves that I should probably work on my reading skills and work on receiving more input from others in groups. I do wish there were a bit more variance of my weaknesses, so I could know if there were other things I needed to work on. I will make sure to keep receiving feedback in the future as well as evaluate myself in order to continue weighing what others say about me versus what I say about myself.
What do I want to do with my life?
This is a very difficult question because it is so hard to see in the future, but taking it step by step, there are a couple of goals that I would really like to achieve. In 3 years, I will be just out of college, and I will most likely be working my first job. I will hopefully be working an entry level data analytics position; however, data analytics does not involve many communication skills. I really want to strive to find a job that allows me to combine my people skills with my ability to crunch numbers. At an entry level position, this probably isn't too likely, unless I can land a consulting job, which I believe would also be enjoyable. I will probably be living at home with my parents, but I would like to be making $60,000 or so and saving up to buy my own home sometime.
5 years time is where my life will hopefully start looking really interesting. My goal is to find a better job around a year after my entry level position that will relocate me to Hawaii. That is my destination of where I want to live, and the sooner I can get there the better. I would also like to find a steady girlfriend and start settling down within the next few years and start a family. When we talk about the things that motivate us in life being intrinsic, I completely agree. I want to be in a tropical environment where the produce is good, I can surf, and the weather is always warm. As for a job, I would like to start developing a bit of autonomy, and ideally I would like to work as little as possible while earning enough money to maintain life in Hawaii and eventually start a family.
20 years time is hopefully just a better version of my 5 years time. I will be 39 going on 40, and hopefully I will still be in Hawaii. If possible, I would like to have made my own company and sold it off for enough money to cruise the rest of my life. Then I would like to have my job be an economics teacher and making videos to help people become more healthy on YouTube. I will have a happy family living in Hawaii with 3 kids where I can devote all my time to helping my students, my viewers, and my kids become the best people they can be, while still finding some time here and there to surf! Can't forget about yourself!
|
What truly differentiates me?
People constantly call themselves unique because they are hard workers or someone who is kind. I feel it is easy to say those things, especially when everyone says them, but if everyone is saying them, are they truly unique?
What I bring is a combination of soft skills, specifically in dealing with motivating and making effective groups, and the ability to be very analytics based. Neither of these things are very unique on paper, but the combination of the two skills as well as my experience to back my soft skills allows me to satisfy a certain niche position.
I have honed my leadership and team skills through being captain of sports teams for the past 6 years in both team sports such as lacrosse and soccer and individual sports such as wrestling. I have excelled in my ability to both lead and participate in various team dynamics and roles. They have taught me discipline and collaboration, but I believe my most valuable soft skills experiences have come through my work as a team building facilitator where I get to teach others and observe teams functioning from the outside. This job has brought my team skills a step above the competition and given me the tools to turn normal teams into exceptional teams.
When combining this with my analytical mind, I can satisfy a position in jobs that bridges the technical sides of businesses with the more "businessy" side of business. There is a lot of disconnect between the information gatherers and the decision makers in businesses, and I have the power to bring these things together to create cross group synergy within a company.
What I bring is a combination of soft skills, specifically in dealing with motivating and making effective groups, and the ability to be very analytics based. Neither of these things are very unique on paper, but the combination of the two skills as well as my experience to back my soft skills allows me to satisfy a certain niche position.
I have honed my leadership and team skills through being captain of sports teams for the past 6 years in both team sports such as lacrosse and soccer and individual sports such as wrestling. I have excelled in my ability to both lead and participate in various team dynamics and roles. They have taught me discipline and collaboration, but I believe my most valuable soft skills experiences have come through my work as a team building facilitator where I get to teach others and observe teams functioning from the outside. This job has brought my team skills a step above the competition and given me the tools to turn normal teams into exceptional teams.
When combining this with my analytical mind, I can satisfy a position in jobs that bridges the technical sides of businesses with the more "businessy" side of business. There is a lot of disconnect between the information gatherers and the decision makers in businesses, and I have the power to bring these things together to create cross group synergy within a company.