The Lure of False Purposes

We talk about finding your purpose. Why? For a sense of direction and because we all begin to realize that our time here is short and what’s the meaning of life if not to discover our purpose.

But it’s easy to follow the path of a “false purpose” which is the illusion of your purpose. Your real purpose will drive you to your true self while the false comes from external sources, belief systems or conformity to what other people are doing or want you to do.

Your real purpose will drive you to improve your skills, your mind, to realize your potential and to contribute to society. A false purpose appeals to the animal side of our nature. There are five most common forms and they have appealed to humans since the beginning of time.

• The pursuit of pleasure. You know, those “distractions” in life. “Sex, stimulants, entertainment, eating, shopping, gambling, games…” 
• Groups and Causes. Humans have a desire to believe in something to be a part of something yet, if joined for the wrong reason, from the need to gratify the ego or vent negative emotions this is not your calling.
• Money and success again, not a purpose once you become successful the boredom and restlessness will set in along with the need for new challenges. Money and success are a result of something.  There is a constant need to motivate to keep the success going.  If money is your primary goal, when do you have enough? There’s always someone with more. The quest is exhausting and with no personal connection to the work, well, the pursuit becomes soulless.
• Attention and/or fame – because of the desire to feel more important you become dependent on the applause and the size of your fan base. Think of the extremes people will go to on social media for attention (likes, shares). Like money and success, there’s never enough.
• Cynicism is the feeling that there is no purpose or meaning to life. Life is random. Success is because of gaming the system. But this is a disguise for the fear of trying and failing to find purpose.

A false purpose leads to obsessive behavior, dead ends, and unproductive energy. 

Without a purpose we become bored, insecure, anxious, and stressed and we don’t know why.  Yet the answer is simple – as humans we crave direction.

For the most part humanity relies on their conscious mind, their programming to guide them through life. Auto-pilot without thoughts.  But the sad part of this to me is that this approach to life is reactionary. You’re letting everything around you drag you through life. What if you could choose? What if you created your reality? I’ll tell you what if – you would be an unstoppable force! And life becomes easier and immensely more enjoyable.