3 Months from now, I will become a dad. This is an important part of many people’s life and marks a change in how you may view life. The focus suddenly changes from being centered on yourself, to given the spotlight to your child.
This has enticed me to do a lot more introspection. The main motivation was to try to understand what I could do to become a better version of myself and hopefully be a better role model for my daughter. Note that I am not doing this exercise because I had bad role models. It is simply because I think at the age of 33, it is time to take a moment to reflect on the “bons coups” and also the mistakes I should have avoided in my twenties. So far in my thirties is the time where I can say I know myself well, and keep getting better at understanding who I really am. I would not want to live the rest of my life not knowing who I am.
Introspection for me has been a journey in finding out what you really want to do with your life. What really matters to you. What is your mission? I have always find this statement to be cheesy, but I guess now I understand a bit better that it is important to have an overarching theme to your life. Successes and opportunities come more naturally when you know what you are looking for.
I guess you could say that in my early adult life, I was improvising a bit more. I was not committed to anything, but instead remained opened to see what life would bring to me. This is not inherently a bad thing, but at some point you only have limited quantity of time and energy.
It’s impossible to please everybody, so it’s good to recognize that early on and cut out some of the noise.It also seems that people will be more enclined to help you achieve your goals if you have a clear definition. This does not mean that you should not explore new avenues. It’s impossible to predict what life has in store for us. However defining your mission, can become of help when you feel lost and unsure about your future. It’s also ok to redefine what you thought was important when you progress in life. The people around you change, you change a lot yourself, so your plan should accomodate that.