You may need both haters and friends to understand what drives your WHY. Writing it down is a moment of clarity.
I heard that you are supposed to use only one sentence. To express your life philosophy, the motto of your existence. One sentence. That’s a pretty small space to fit all the values into.
Why do I need to nail my life philosophy? (And why I can’t get at least a paragraph?!)
Writing it down is an excellent way of gaining clarity for your long-term goals, and well, life…
I know the exercise is pretty simple: You sit down and free-write about yourself and your values, then you edit, reword and magically, you end up with one sentence, that is pure and strong. I failed all my attempts.
Working out my life philosophy
I had a strong sense of being an educator in my life: I have been a coach, social worker, teacher, and guide. And I always will be. Inspiring others and bringing them up are character strengths that I value very much if not the most in others.
I was always told that I cannot. I cannot train in martial arts, because I have asthma. I cannot move to Hong Kong just like that, because it is not like “going to a shop and buying bread”. When I moved to Hong Kong (dah) I was told I won’t be able to train as much as I wanted, because the working culture there is crazy. It is, but I still trained every day. When I failed my fellowship application to get funding for my Ph.D. studies, I gained a university studentship months later. And when I decided to be a professional fighter, they said I am too old.
It happened recently. I was visiting home and a friend of a friend was very excited about my journey as he used to be a fighter himself. Suddenly, he asked me: “How old are you?”
“34”, I said.
“Oh.” He said. OH.
“What a shame.”
“You can’t do that anymore.”
I was doing it right then. But still, he would look me in the eye and tell me I cannot be, what I currently was.
“Watch me”, I said.
A few months later in Thailand, I was sitting at a dinner table with my two friends, MMA fighters from India, eating a poke bowl. She is a young prospect, currently getting her experience in amateur circuits. He is about the same age as me.
He told me:
“I need to tell you something. I thought I am done. They said I am too old. But then you appeared and you didn’t ask anyone, you just followed your dreams! So I realized, if you can, I can! You inspired me.”
I was speechless and very touched.
Recently, I was on a podcast and at the end, the host asked me if there is any message I would like to leave.
Bam! It was there.
If people tell you, that you cannot do something, come stand up on my shoulders, and tell me what you see.
Ok, it is two sentences. And the second one is lyrics from Giant, Imagine Dragons. But it feels just right.
It took much more than writing my values down and rewriting them, it took actual experiences and people and obstacles, but I think I have it now. Giving strength to others, showing them the possibilities, by empowering and growing myself no matter what the obstacle is, that is my life philosophy. And thanks, Imagine Dragons!
What is your life philosophy?
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