Conventions. It seems that most of mankind lives and dies by them. Dogma’s imprinted in us during early childhood on every little aspect of our life; never to be lazy, seek a “proper” job, become respectable by earning lots of money, assimilate your appearance to your surrounding.
And where does that get us? Many people who are really rich have done so by giving up on commonly accepted moral (or even legal) standards. And let’s face it; noone ever reached financial independence by working hard (for someone else).
And these respectable jobs? Can we all be lawyers, doctors and engineers? Are those really the jobs we need in the future which AI is creating for us and will they answer to your intrinsic value system? Somehow I doubt this holds true for many of us.
How many of us have been given the freedom to experiment with livelihood (by taken a broad view of how to earn a living, whether as an artist, dancer or nuclear scientist), the way we dress (even if this crosses cultural and gender boundaries) and religious/spiritual view (by finding your own unique path instead of that of blindly following that of your parents)?
For most of us choices were limited, clear boundaries were set as to what is expected behaviour and dreams of deviating from this path were squashed. Throughout life, many institutions in life reinforce this idea; assimilate, adjust, or get cast out with no chance of success.
And the things that really matter, such as doing the right thing instead of the most profitable one, or creating something new and beautiful in a artistic or technological no-mans-lands, is still neglected as a lesser priority, only to be pursued once all other priorities (largely financial independence) are high and dry. Most of us will never get there or only at high age. All this brain power and free will, put on hold until the very end of our life.
Yet every single person, who became successful, did so by giving society a big F-You and choosing a different path.
Today, in this post covid world, I see something beautiful; more and more people are refusing to live the lie. The seek help to cast off a useless set of rules though coaches and counsellors, or via many self help solutions online.
So for this coming year, set yourself some new rules:
* Do whats meaningful and right
* Be kind and compassionate
* Earn a living with what the world needs
* Find out what your dreams are and pursue them
* and most importantly; pass this freedom and reorientation on to your children, so that the next generation can find a better way to happiness.
Need help with this process? Don’t know where to start?
