Do What You Love, Don't Become The Person You Want To Be
There's a prevailing notion amongst people that there will come a time where they will "become the person they want to be" and that they simply have to work towards it. It seems like an innocuous enough idea, and I've actively been a proponent of it, claiming that we need ideals to which we can strive.
However, my world view is slowly changing. For one, I realise now that it is somewhat detrimental to think about things as means to ends; you have to take each activity as an end in itself. To think about "the person you want to become" necessarily implies doing things as a means to an end (i.e. becoming that better person) and is incompatible with viewing each activity as an end in itself. Therefore, if we want to live a content and happy life, we can no longer think in terms of becoming who we want to be. What then can we think in terms of?
You have to think in terms of what you like, and do that. If instead of thinking about the person you want to be, you do what you like, you will create a positive feedback loop. You will do what you like and do it frequently, thus becoming better at it, thus being inspired to do it more, until finally becoming fantastically proficient.
None of this is to say doing things as a means to an end is impossible or won't lead to success; it probably will, if you're smart about it -- I just think doing things for the sake of themselves is more likely to lead you to contentedness within yourself.
So, to return to the point, we shouldn't think about the person we want to become, but rather we should look into ourselves and think about who we are and what we like, and work to perfect those things. Admittedly, those things are often not determined by us and are determined by our societal standing and what we have been exposed to, but that isn't the point. The point is to be happy and to be the master of yourself, not to create yourself. The fact that you have no control over your genetics should be enough to convince you that you can't create yourself.
However, my world view is slowly changing. For one, I realise now that it is somewhat detrimental to think about things as means to ends; you have to take each activity as an end in itself. To think about "the person you want to become" necessarily implies doing things as a means to an end (i.e. becoming that better person) and is incompatible with viewing each activity as an end in itself. Therefore, if we want to live a content and happy life, we can no longer think in terms of becoming who we want to be. What then can we think in terms of?
You have to think in terms of what you like, and do that. If instead of thinking about the person you want to be, you do what you like, you will create a positive feedback loop. You will do what you like and do it frequently, thus becoming better at it, thus being inspired to do it more, until finally becoming fantastically proficient.
None of this is to say doing things as a means to an end is impossible or won't lead to success; it probably will, if you're smart about it -- I just think doing things for the sake of themselves is more likely to lead you to contentedness within yourself.
So, to return to the point, we shouldn't think about the person we want to become, but rather we should look into ourselves and think about who we are and what we like, and work to perfect those things. Admittedly, those things are often not determined by us and are determined by our societal standing and what we have been exposed to, but that isn't the point. The point is to be happy and to be the master of yourself, not to create yourself. The fact that you have no control over your genetics should be enough to convince you that you can't create yourself.
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