Roadmap to Defining Your Purpose

Finding ones path can be a tricky task at best. The world changes. Priorities change. Even you change. Your "purpose" in life can be an ever shifting goal which makes it so annoying thing to chase. Probably you don't even have a single purpose but a set of different goals you're striving towards. Still it would be easier if we would have some kind of road map which we could use so we wouldn't stray away from the things we hold dear.

One of the best maps so far I've found is the diagram below:

Diagram from: http://www.smartrecruiters.com/blog/32-quotes-about-workplace-culture/

1. Passion

Let's start with you. Everyone is constantly bombarded with outside influences of what to do and how to do it. These influences can take very direct form like the "advice" (sounds like it comes from the words "add" + "vice") from parents, friends or colleagues or more subtle form like articles titled as "6 Habits Highly Successful People Do" or "These Are The Dream Jobs Of The Today". People are easily swayed from the things they love to things that are supposed to be valuable for their lives. Or how else would you explain the popularity of golf?

Also the array of possibilities that is laid upon the tiny shoulders of young people today is immense. How am I going to decide which profession, career or business I ought to choose when I have zero experience from any of them and all the information I have is second hand data. Yes this and that sounds fabulous but is that the reality of it and even more important would it be fabulous for me?

Yup it might look silly but I have a dream goddamit!

The only thing you can be certain of is you. You know your skills and you know what you like and what you don't like. If you don't know these you ought to take a step back and really scrutinize your life to find out what these things are. That which you are good at plus you that which you love creates your passion. This is the stepping stone to defining ones purpose.

2. Mission

World only reciprocates to what you give it. You need to give to get. This is true in business and in social relationships. Family might be the only exception to this rule and that's only sometimes. If you don't contribute to your job and you just leech from the fruits of other peoples labor don't act surprised if your not invited to after works or if you get laid off. But of course it can't be this "cold" when it comes to friendship? But it is. How often do you spend time with people who have absolutely nothing to give? If they don't share stories or wisdom? If they don't make you smile? If they don't make you feel safe and appreciated? If they don't bring anything to a potluck party and still eat their fair share? You reap what you sow. No way around it. You give. You get.

Passion is a fine place to start but it's not enough. Passion is for you. Mission is for the world. When you combine that which you love and that which the world needs you can find your mission. You need to observe the world and find the problems and troubles which need to be solved and which you want to solve. The first is as imperative as the second. The problem needs to be worth solving or otherwise you will feel unappreciated and your efforts will be in vain. People just won't care enough about it. The second one is also important because otherwise you won't be committed and you will be doing it only because you feel it's your obligation to help. You will get tired, maybe even cynical and after awhile you might feel like a martyr giving everything and receiving none. Mission without passion is a fools errand.

3. Vocation

Some people choose their jobs on the basis of what they're good at. And some people choose their job on the basis what the world needs. Doctors, nurses, police, some people working for non-profits, catastrophe aid workers, etc... If you're lucky or if you observe the world enough you can combine these. Helping others is a wonderful feeling and it does give certain sense of meaning to your work. Of course many times it is hard to see this while your changing diapers for an old granny for the third time that day but in the bigger picture you're making a difference to her life. 

"The measure of a civilization is how it treats its weakest members"

Pic from: homeiswhereyourblogis.com

It's peculiar to see how these people are of vital importance to the society and yet still they're in one of the lowest salary brackets. I think there are couple of reasons to this. If it REALLY needs to be done I'm sure someone will take care of it. Pay or no pay. Some one will take care of the elderly and the young. Some one will save the sick. There's always enough people to take one for the team. Second most of these jobs are low skill high attendance kind-of jobs. I could take care of children or the elderly. Don't have any education for it but I would manage and they would survive. This leads to the third conclusion that these jobs don't scale. One person can only take care of so many people. One engineer on the other hand can make millions of phones.

When the needs of the world is combined with that which you can be paid for you have found your vocation. I think one of the highest aspects of my life is that I can be of service to others. When I teach I learn. When I host a party I receive the smiles of my friends. When I serve my life has a meaning.

4. Profession

Most people need money to survive. It's how our society is constructed. Most professional and white-collar workers spend most of their time and energy in this sphere. They ponder the world in sets of skills they ought to learn to make more money. I should use every opportunity to network. These six tricks can really improve my productivity. Never really been interested in this or that but if I am to compete in this rat race I ought to learn these fast.

I'm gonna sell them rocks. Ingenius!

When you bring together that which you can be paid for and that which you are good at you can discover you profession. Most people have the potential to learn anything and funny enough almost anything can be sold in this world. So if you're told that your passion is a waste of time you can show them the picture of the guy who invented pet stones or the person who has become a professional lip stick reader (http://www.insidermonkey.com/blog/weirdest-jobs-270130/5/). So the point is, that what ever your passion might be if you're good enough and figure out an angle how to sell it, it can be done.

5. Purpose

In the epicenter of these four elements you will find the missing piece of the puzzle - The Fifth Element! Phew that sounded grand. If you have a feeling that something is missing in your life take a look at the things listed above. Study them in the context of your life and see which parts are in order and which parts you still have work to do. Which parts have you've consciously chosen for yourself and which ones have been decided for you? Finding ones purpose is tricky and usually a life long process but I can guarantee you it is worth it!

6 Ways to Quit the Rat Race and Master Your Own Destiny

The term 'rat race' has been with us for some time now. The never ending cycle of too much work and too little money and free time is consuming the soul of our society. Western societies have grown wealthy, but still there seems to be a economical gloom in the media as well as in peoples hearts. One big reason for this gloom is that people are not very independent when it comes to money. Most people are bound to their jobs as their only means of income. Of course one can change jobs but then the same thing repeats itself. This doesn't really give much room to maneuver. So I've created a small list to help people start taking charge of their own financials and thus create more freedom to choose how you want to live your life.

Which one you want to be? (Picture from: tylermctavish.com)

1) Decide for yourself

This is the starting point. If you don't do this is is useless to read further. It is up to you to do the hard decisions that needs to be done. Many people never actually decide anything meaningful in their lives. They just do what's 'smart' or what is expected of them. In the end you have 100% of the votes on how to run the state of you. Many people want to lobby you to this or that direction and many advise might be even good ones. But when it comes down to it you are the one responsible to take charge and set your own course. Whining about circumstances, never getting a good chance or that you were too busy are self made excuses and you know it. You were just too afraid to make the decision so better to face it than hide from it. And no, it's not too late to make it now.

Do not be afraid. Go boldly and see how far the rabbit hole goes!

2) Work for yourself

If you work for a company your upside will always be limited. No matter how much work you do or how well you do it there's a limit on your potential gains. You get your paycheck and maybe some bonuses but that pretty much sums it up. If you work for yourself the sky is the limit. The downside of course is unlimited in both cases. You loose your job or go bankrupt. You can loose it all in both cases. Only the upside is different so why make other people rich and successful when you can do it for yourself.

 

You also need to know the difference between your profession and your business. When businessman Ray Croc, the man who made McDonalds what it is today, asked some MBA students what's his business is all the students chuckled and answered: "There's no one on the planet who doesn't know what your business is. It's hamburgers". Well they were wrong. Mr. Croc has always been in the real estate business. He owns the properties under the franchises in some of the most central places in this planet.

Understand the difference between your profession and your business. What you do every day might not be your business. Your business creates you income even when you're not working actively. You need to manage it from time to time but it's different from your profession. Your business could be real estates, companies you own, forest, stocks or other assets that generate you income.

3) Make money work for yourself

Most people work for money. Rich people make money work for them. That's why the rich get richer and poor and the middle class stay where they are. Most people haven't grasped the difference between asset and liability. They buy a car or a home and call it an asset. It might be but most cases it's not. An asset is something that brings money to your pocket. A liability is something that takes money from your pocket. So if you manage to use your car or home as a tool for money generation then it is an asset. Otherwise it is a liability.

To make it really clear and simple your personal financial statement should look something like this:

Income > Expenses

Yeah bitches do my dirty work!

Assets > Liabilities

But for most people it looks something like this:

Income = Expenses

Assets < Liabilities

Here's the simple truth why the rich get richer:

Income --> Assets --> More income

And what you most likely will do:

Income --> Expenses --> Stay where you are

You should start investing your income to assets that start to passively generate you more income that you can either invest onward or spend as you will since you can invest from your incomes and thus create a positive cycle that will make you wealthy. If you can create your personal cost structure so that you can start investing you'll be in better financial position than most and maybe quit your day job altogether.

4) Become financially savvy

If I only had more money my problems would go away! This is what most people think:              more money = less problems. 

Most people who get a sudden windfall like a lottery winning or an inheritance usually end up spending them in a short run and are financially where they started. What do you need to be rich? Money or assets. What do you need to stay rich? Financial education. Most people can read just fine. It is when it comes to reading numbers they go like: 'Math and accounting are not really my strong suit' or 'Talking about money is so boorish'. Finances and money are not really taught in schools. One needs to learn these things herself. One good trick is to start a investment portfolio with small sums. This way you have an incentive to study financial literacy and become more financially independent.

5) Balance your costs and income

Don't believe everything they say

It's not about earning millions. It's about earning more than you spend. Consumerism is so instilled in our modern society that when the shops close for the holidays we go: 'how are we going to survive now?' We're bombarded with lifestyle choices, ads, new 'can't-live-with-out-products' and dozens of different options to open your wallet and spend, spend, spend! One really needs to set her priorities straight and learn the value of money. Every purchase has an alternative cost. The cost is usually time or opportunities. Because time is money you usually end up working more if you buy more. The other cost is more hidden. Opportunities present themselves to us daily. If we have open mind and enough resources to tap into those opportunities we'll get tremendous boost for our way to become financially independent.

To be financially independent isn't about hogging money and wanting be rich. It's about the freedom that it entails. The freedom to choose for yourself. The freedom to dedicate your time and effort to the things you deem worthy. The freedom live your life as you will.

Oh by the way you need to make the sixth way yourself because every path is different and I can only give you some general tips how to go about it :)

End of work as we know it

This is basically what people do at work. We need bigger screens though.

The new land

"Wait where did our jobs go?"

The landscape of working has been changing very swiftly in the past decades. New job titles, companies and industries are born and decline before most of us even realize it. Formal education is lagging far behind to what is needed or expected in companies. The need for individuals to step up the pace of their own skills development is increasing. If you can't keep up you face the risk of becoming obsolete to the work markets. The learning cycle in companies is speeding up as agile, lean an other managerial processes step in. The mediocre skills, good salary middle class positions are vanishing rapidly and the huge majority of white collar workers find themselves in new terrain. Can you keep up?

All the knowledge of humankind is already packed in a very accessible form that most of us carry in our pockets. It is no longer about the knowledge that one has but the ability to link proper information to the context at hand to make optimal decisions. It is about understanding causalities, correlations and meanings between seemingly separate factors. New theories, methodologies and even paradigms change the way work in being conducted.  Those who know how to tackle this kind of work mentality will prosper. Those who know how to embrace change and sail those winds will prosper. Those who can't will feel left out, detached and maybe even useless.

The world is changing fast. That's a fact and there no use fighting against it. The question here is are you building safety walls or wind turbines against the winds of change? Japan in the 19th century resisted industrialization to upkeep traditional values and their way of living. It took only four ironclad warships to demonstrate their weakness against modern technology. They faced reality as it was and after a brief civil war they set out to become one of the most technologically advanced nations on Earth. We can of course duck down and hold our heads in the bush. Keep our old values and think the world hasn't changed. There are lots of conservative political forces in Europe that want to keep the status quo or even take couple of steps backwards. I understand people that can't cope with the speed of the change want to support this kind of mentality. Change is never easy and change for a conservative, change resistant person is almost down right impossible. This creates lots of tensions in societies as we adopt new and foreign influences that contradict old beliefs. Most metropolitan inhabitants around the world have more in common with each other than they usually have with their country men who live in rural parts of the country. A New Yorker and Hong Konger could shoot the breeze more readily with each other that with their compatriots from the bible belt or Western China. Where does this leave nations as the defining factor of culture?

The new jobscape

The pace of change is especially hard for large govermental bodies that need to adjust education and legislation to suit the new jobscape. What do we need to teach the kids of today if we have no idea about the jobs of tomorrow? How do we speed up the legislation process to serve the population in real time and not 10 years back tracking? How do we educate the legislators to become more tech savvy to even understand the reality of what they need to do? Big questions with lots of speculation of what could be the best answer. 

You seriously would like to screw every bolt yourself?

As the 19th century manufacturing revolution 'put a lot of people out jobs' so will the digitalization and robotization 'put a lot of people out of jobs' in the 21st century. Creative destruction sweeps obsolete jobs, technologies and practices in the dust bin of history and I think it's excellent news. I'm not sure who would be sad that we can't tighten that screw all day long in an assembly line anymore. Or that we don't need to manually do spreadsheets anymore. Lots of old job titles will be swept in to that dust bin and society as whole will win as people are freed from monotonic minimum wage jobs to aspire more interesting careers.

Let's say that all the jobs in the world could be done by machines. Computers and robots. Would we be all poor since we don't have jobs? Or would it free us to do what we desire the most? We could devote our time to our hobbies, social activities, arts, science and so forth. Our needs would be met and the only question remaining would be: "what would you like to spend your time on?" The challenge would be to spread the wealth some what equally amongst the population. This kind of challenges we are facing already since the disparity between the rich and the poor is growing ever wider. The trend, especially in digital industries, is that the winner takes it all and there's no room for second places. If this kind of polarization between the super successful and the rest grows too strong it will cause major disturbances in the society.

The loss of traditional jobs is not only affecting economics of nations but also has major impact in the micro level as well. Individuals that have been displaced by technology might feel that they have been betrayed. By their boss, by their company, by the society. These disgruntled people might be more willing oppose 'progress' than to be grateful of the great advancements in technology that enabled automatization to take his job. In the grand perspective the world took a step forward. From subjective point of view the world can shove it up his as*. The next generation might never find out that there even was such a job as 'taxi driver'. What an old fashioned thought that people would drive cars. It's like hand washing your own clothes.

Resource optimization

The only thing we have in this world is time, energy and resources. Time is the hours in our day as well as the days in our lives. Energy is the thing that moves our bodies, cars and lights our bulbs. Resources are the food we eat, the infrastructure that we use as well as the human effort we can put into the things we hold dear. 'Jobs' can be put to the category of resources as it is put so neatly in to the dehumanized box of 'Human Resources' in so many companies. The way we as a society learn to optimize the use of resources is the most crucial element that will determine the course of our future. 

It's still less risky than getting a bank loan

Capitalism with job titles and money as a tool of trade takes into consideration the human aspects of greed and aspiration to 'be better than others' to create motivation for individuals to excel. This of course creates problems of it's own and is not very sustainable way of doing things. Capitalism has also shown that it's fundamental problem is that most of the wealth accumulates to a small portion of people. The so called 1%. It is of course great to see some people succeed in such manner but it's not very egalitarian way to organize a society. Also it a tremendous waste of resources since this top 1% sits on top of most the wealth created like dragons on a pile of gold. Talk about a bottle neck when it comes to resource optimization.

Our ability to harness human ingenuity and energy to the creation of the society of the tomorrow is the key. How can we educate and empower the large masses to, as Gandhi would say it, become the change you want to see in the world? The society needs to become the image of it's inhabitants. Also those inhabitants need to face some hard facts about the realities of resource scarcity. The world is a very finite place. With soon 9 billion of us here we need to very mindful of each litre of gasoline we use. But with proper system to optimize the use of resources and the distribution of wealth if global warming doesn't kill us of I don't see any reason why the future wouldn't be much more prosperous place than now.

The not so dystopic future

How to live a thousand lives?

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.”

-George R. R. Martin, A Dance With Dragons

This quote depicts truly the lives of people who read, do theater, write fiction or play role playing games. The ability to relive the lives of the characters I read or play has been one the most rewarding activities of my life. The feeling of immersion when I delve into the stories of Neil Gaiman or when I jump in to shoes of my 1950's marketing manager, who happens to be a Reaper and a lousy husband, has opened worlds that I couldn't have imagined. Yet I did.

Yes some people do actually read and most people atleast watch movies. Movies, if well made, are a good way to experience small portion of the level of immersion that a good book can achieve. It is still nothing compared to a good theater play and those plays can achieve small portion of the level of immersion that acting or role playing can achieve. The difference is the level of control and participation one has while engaged in these activities. The immersion grows so much stronger when you move from being a passive consumer and become an active player.

The ability to use ones own imagination is one of the greatest strengths and gifts humanity has been given. Yet so few actively use and train their imagination during the course of their lives. They take the "Reality" as it's presented with capital R, immovable and unchangeable, instead of seeing that it's only an subjective illusion and the true Reality is a collective clutter of billions of these subjective realities. Since reality is partially what you make of it, you get the power to influence it. And this is where the magic starts!

The first thing you need to mind is your attitude. Something happens. How do you react to it? Do you take the first impulse that comes from your lizard brain and act accordingly or can you take a mental step back and analyze what just happened and then choose your action? This mental step gives you power over your own emotions and thus strengthens your power over reality. Is your base mindset positive or negative? Through which kind of lens do you look at life? Is it gray, muddy, everyday struggle to keep up with the Joneses or is every moment a gift to cherish and use with the best of your abilities? Probably something in between since it's hard to not compare your own life to those of others and nobody can live every moment like a Steve Jobs on crack. The point is that be aware of your reactions and actions since those are the things that define you after all.

Even when you're not doing any of that artsy stuff mentioned above you can pimp your everyday experiences in variety of ways. First of all if you think how much more interesting the world is inside your head than outside it think also that everyone else also thinks like this. This makes each and every encounter with people so much more interesting since you don't need to take them as they stand there but as the bottomless well of imagination, dreams and hopes that they are.

One thing I also do from time to time is that I adapt a person of interest, true of fictional, and play him for awhile. I think about how one of my heroes would do this or manage that and use his role to overcome my own deficiencies. It's so much cooler to go on about as Richard Branson or maybe even Richard Rahl (Sword of Truth) for the duration of the scene and experience world in different way.

There's dozens of different techniques to help you to unleash your imagination and you just need to explore a little to know what suits you. One thing I can say is that if you do life will never be the same again.

Live a little, play a little!

Poem: Brand new shoes

Hiya,

this is the first poem I've ever made. At least the first one I've ever wrote down.

Brand new shoes

I once bought a pair of shoes,
I thought what could I ever loose?

They were from a famous brand,
made in a far away land.

They were made for running,
and boy did I look stunning.

They only cost me a dollar,

Bansky

didn't know it came with collar.

A friend told me how they were made,
in the sweat of the children the soles were bade.

I learned that the ads were fiction,
it was merely a market inception.

From the company I demanded an explanation,
they wouldn't reply to my insinuation.

I wailed, phoned and mailed,
They evaded, golfed and played.

They ignored everything I tested,
in the game of business they couldn
't be bested.

Therefore I returned my pair of shoes,
for I had my soul to loose.

Why Nations Fail?

Hiya,

as the title says I've red the book "Why Nations Fail" by Darren Acemoglu and James Robinson. First of all I have to recommend this book for everyone who want's to understand how the world works. This book really gave valuable insight to the inner workings of societies. 

What did I learn that was so valuable? The main premise of the book was in all its simplicity that nations succeed or fail because of the political and economical institutions that are prevalent in that society. They dismissed theories that nations succeed or fail due to geographic position, natural resources, culture or other singular aspect of the nation. The book gave good examples why the theories above just wouldn't hold under greater scrutiny.

Why are the institutions then so valuable for the success of a nation? Institutions are things like education system, law & order, political system, finance system, etc.. According to the book there are two kinds of institutions - extractive and inclusive. Extractive institutions have been the prevalent system during most of history. Under these kinds of intitutions small elite holds all political and economical power in the expense of the many. Kings, aristocrats, dictators or communist parties are good examples of the benefitors of extractive instituitions. Inclusive instituitions on the other hand spread political and economical power more evenly across the society so wider range of people can benefit from wealth and the use of power. The recent social experiment called "democracy" has been the main contributor to the most widely spred inclusive institutions boom in history.

The book makes it quite clear that if a society wants to prosper in the long run it needs to adopt inclusive institutions and spread the power in society. This doesn't rule out the possibility that economical growth would be possible under extractive institutions. For example the Soviet Union had immense economical growth all the way until late 70s. They redistributed workers from low production agriculture to heavy industy and armament industry and adopted technologies from abroad which boosted GDP growth. The growth was so fast for decades that many people in the West thought that communism was superior social order to capitalism in order to create growth. 

Then the problems start to arise. Under extractive institutions there is no creative destruction and no intrinsic motivation to improve anything. The elite is always afraid of change since it would mean that their power might be challenged. New techologies always cause creative destruction sweeping away the old and replacing it with the new. This might cause shifts in political and economical power in a society. The elite has a tendency to dread these kind of shifts in fear of losing their position as the top dog of a society. Elite wants to uphold the status quo and therefore the society starts to stagnate in the long run.

How to create inclusive institutions into societys under extractive ones? This is no easy task by anymeans. Extractive institutions are very resilient and even if the elite is deposed somehow the institutions tend to remain. The new leaders soon become the elite and the vicious cycle takes another full turn. The empoverment of the people and transparency of the society are two key elements to break to vicious cycle in my opinion. Smartphones for example are a very empowering tool in many societies. It can rally mobs, record misconduct, connect the society as whole and report news.

Summa summarum the book was really worth my while. It gives good insight and completely new perspective to many poverty stricken societies. There's no magic bullet that would break the vicious cycle but this book at least gives a starting point to understand the disease so others can create the cure.

One trick ponies

Hiya!

I've always been a generalist. I dabble on this and that. Poke my nose in different subjects, projects and such to learn, participate and get the feel of the subject at hand. I rarely go deeper and become an 'expert' on any given topic. I'm pretty good in many fields such as sports, social endevours and academia. Rarely the best but pretty good in any case. I've taken to myself the saying 'if you're the smartest in the room you're in the wrong room'. So I change rooms a lot.

Yes! I can climb. I have a meaning after all...

I've noticed a groving trend amongst my facebook friends that many of them have taken one aspect from their life and made it an integral part of their persona. This phenomena doesn't only limit to facebook, but it is most visible there. Some have taken worlds injustice or animal rights to champion. There's few politicians with their party agenda. Climbing, marathon running, cyckling or gym have become the pinnacle of some of their existence. In a way it's great that they have found meaningful things to pursue in their lives and want to share their views or activities with the rest of us. But is it that you need to cut everything else from your life to become that avatar of their given subject? To become taht one-trick-pony?

Some of my old business student friends have taken their title as their defining factor. Others are defining them through achievements in their dedicated sport. Few friends I've completely lost to the abyss of MMORPGs. I find it kind of sad that one needs to have a well defined box to help define their personality. I feel that would be immensly limiting and restraining to ones ability to pursue new vistas in life.

I can also see the temptation why so many go for this. It's easy, clear cut and quite straight forward. Especially defining oneself through profession is socially the easiest answer. When you go to a party where you don't know the crowd the most usual question is: "what do you do for living?". It's not "what do you like to do?" or "would you tell me an interesting story about you?". We need that box where can allocate people. Ah a lawyer - he must be smart, rich and dull. Uh a hair dresser - since he's a guy might be a bit queer. The answers might help us categorize people but is that what we want? Is that what we're actually interested in?

I think many skills, knowledge and connections can transfer from one area of life to another and immensly contribute there creating new perspectives and innovations. So limiting oneself to be just this or that is if not harmful then at least boring. I would highly recommend everyone who feels that they might have become a one-trick-pony to shake things up every now and then. The easiest way to check if this has happened is to check with who have you spent you time during the past weeks and what have your last 20 FB updates been about.