Note: I wrote this on 11/10/2024 while I was on my routine evening walk.
Will [Date - 11-10-2024]
One of the key areas I worked on is understanding the importance of will. I’ve always been an ambitious person, and have often taken up goals which have at that time seemed impossible. I’ve achieved many of my goals, and have failed a lot more. I’ve learned a lot of shortcomings from my failures, but have gained a lot of wisdom from my wins. Goals are two edged sword, because they make you both confident and entitled - and that is a really interesting combination. Goals and accomplishments seldom come with a survivorship bias tag, and that’s ever scary.
Even in my limited sample space of goals I’ve accomplished, I’ve realised most of the time, I’ve been driven by factors that just didn’t feel right in the long run. Any claims of “I’ll feel contempt once I reach the top” didn’t age well for me. You can’t always wait for the “next big thing” to start living on your terms. Life’s too short for that!
As per my understanding, Will is very different from Goal. Goals are often driven by a motive - a desire to achieve results. Will, on the other hand springs out of nothingness - it is just there.
Most of the time in life, we chase goals on the sole basis of what results they give, what we gain from it. Will is a lot trickier to explain - it is just there, and we actually need to find it, and that’s the difficult part. How can you find something when you don’t even know what it is? Without will, something will feel a little empty. You will have all the accomplishments and material possessions in the world, but without a will driving it, you’ll be patching temporary fixes to justify your satisfaction of your goals.
Finding will is the most difficult part. You need to go on a long and exhausting journey of self discovery - which in the beginning will feel very confusing and unnecessary, but it is actually important to understand your fulfillment needs. The fear of missing out on things to pursue what you like seems a lot selfish, and at times wasteful but I strongly believe the opportunity cost of fulfillment far outweighs the endless pursuit of accomplishments.
Life’s always been about understanding yourself and giving back to people you love. Pursuing what you want from life is the greatest form of self love you can practice.