When I was kid, I wanted to be a wrestler. I wasn’t a hardcore wrestling fan but the few times I watched it, it interested me. I wanted to fly off the top rope and elbow drop someone. I wanted to choke slam somebody. I wanted to power-bomb someone (A little part still wants to).
I was a violent kid.
My purpose changed multiple times. I wanted to be a pilot, engineer, firefighter, and police officer. I didn’t give up, but instead, I merely lost interest. Or maybe I wasn’t good at it, I’m not too sure.
“Whenever you leave behind a failure, you’re doing good. If you think everything you’ve done is great, you’re probably dumb.” -Louis C.K.
If you’re like me, maybe you haven’t discovered what you good at. The law of nature states that you have one thing that you can do better than everyone else. I think that is BS.
I think that it just takes time, dedication, and love. Purpose can be developed for nearly anything you want to achieve.
You don’t need a Singular Purpose
When we are younger, we are told to eat breakfast, wash behind our ears, go to school and learn, sleep, and do it all over again. I internalized that. I thought that was my sole purpose. I continue to do it, even now, as I am stuck in the formal institution of university.
I think I got too wrapped up in one thing. I focused on one purpose too much and continued to lose interest. Here’s the problem: We don’t just have one passion or love in life.
The universe wants us to have fun doing more than one thing in life. That’s how you learn. You don’t need only one purpose in life. You have maybe 500 or so.
Divide your mental on energy on a number of different things. You don’t just have to pick one. But then, you say, “How will I ever be the best?”
The 1000-Hour Rule
This is extremely different from the 10,000-hour rule, popularized by Malcolm Gladwell. It basically states that in order to be an expert at something, you must dedicate 10,000 hours of practice to master a field.
But 10,000 hours takes anywhere from 5-30 years of your life. I don’t have that much time to dedicate solely to one thing. Instead, practice the 1000 hour rule.
If you practice anything for 1000 hours and make sure its dedicated practice then you will still be among the best in the world. With the first 1000 hours, you experience a steep learning curve. The hours that follow is spent fine-tuning and honing the subtleties.
But here’s the thing. No one can tell the difference and no one cares. The experts appreciate the 10,000-hour man, but the general population cannot tell the difference in the subtleties. You can appear to be the best in world just by putting in 1000 hours.
As I got older, my purpose changed. Drifted to multiple other avenues and I tried my hand in different things. I wasn’t very good at any of them. Now, I am trying writing and being creative with YouTube.
I think I am pretty good at it. I am slowly chipping away at the 1,000 hours, slowing honing my craft. Maybe I will stop writing and being creative. Maybe I will pick up something completely different like wine tasting or Bee-Keeping and become the best at that.
Regardless of the craft, I choose, I know that there are others out there waiting for me to discover. I implore you, discover something you enjoy and pursue it. If you lose interest, that is okay. Find the other 499.
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