2 ways to find your life purpose

James Zhang
26 May 202411:04

Summary

TLDRThe speaker reflects on their journey to discover life's purpose, acknowledging the struggle to find what truly drives and motivates them. They discuss the importance of eliminating paths that don't resonate and embracing experiences that align with one's passions. From aspiring to be an engineer to becoming a fitness coach and now exploring holistic healing, the speaker emphasizes the non-linear nature of self-discovery. They advise not to take life too seriously, to follow one's heart, and to challenge limiting beliefs instilled from a young age, ultimately encouraging continuous personal evolution.

Takeaways

  • 🔍 The journey to finding one's purpose in life is a personal and evolving process that can take a long time and requires introspection.
  • 🌟 People who have found their purpose often have a clear mission and drive that fuels their motivation and passion for life.
  • 🍋 Early on, the speaker experienced envy towards those who seemed to have a clear purpose, which sparked their own journey to find it.
  • 👶 Not everyone is fortunate to find their purpose early in life; some may never find it, leading to a life that feels unfulfilling.
  • 📚 Society does not typically teach individuals how to discover their life purpose, leaving it to each person to figure out on their own.
  • 🔗 The concept of 'hindsight is 2020' is highlighted, suggesting that understanding one's purpose often comes from reflecting on past experiences.
  • ❌ One way to find purpose is through the process of elimination, by identifying and ruling out what one does not enjoy or is not passionate about.
  • ✅ Trying new things and recognizing what aspects one likes can help in adjusting and correcting one's path towards their purpose.
  • 🛑 The speaker's personal journey included phases of realizing they did not want to be an engineer and later transitioning from a personal trainer to sales and beyond.
  • 🌱 The current phase of the speaker's life involves exploring holistic healing, which feels like a culmination of past experiences and a natural progression towards their purpose.
  • 💡 The speaker emphasizes the importance of not taking life too seriously, following one's heart, and not repressing desires, as these are key to discovering one's true purpose.
  • 🚫 The idea that we can't be anything we want to be is a falsehood and a limiting belief that can hinder the discovery of one's purpose, especially if internalized from an early age.

Q & A

  • What is the main topic discussed in the script?

    -The main topic discussed in the script is finding one's purpose in life and the journey of self-discovery to understand what kind of life one wants to live and what they are passionate about.

  • Why is finding one's life purpose considered important according to the speaker?

    -The speaker considers finding one's life purpose important because it leads to a life driven by a mission, which in turn motivates individuals to live life fully and do what they love.

  • What does the speaker suggest about the societal approach to teaching life purpose?

    -The speaker suggests that society does not effectively teach people how to find their life purpose, implying that it's something individuals must figure out on their own.

  • What is the speaker's personal journey to finding their purpose?

    -The speaker's personal journey involves transitioning from wanting to become an engineer to becoming a fitness coach, then moving into sales, and currently considering a path in holistic healing, spirituality, and wellness.

  • What principle does the speaker mention regarding the process of elimination in finding one's purpose?

    -The principle mentioned is that by doing things one does not like or is not passionate about, and realizing the desire to stop doing them, one can eliminate those paths and move towards finding their purpose.

  • How does the speaker describe the process of trial and error in finding one's purpose?

    -The speaker describes it as trying different things, realizing which parts one likes or dislikes, and then making corrections and adjustments along the way.

  • What realization did the speaker have about their early career choice as an engineer?

    -The speaker realized that the career choice of becoming an engineer was not aligned with who they truly were, leading them to reconsider their life's direction.

  • What role did becoming a personal trainer play in the speaker's journey?

    -Becoming a personal trainer helped the speaker identify their passion for helping others achieve fitness goals and understand that they could make money doing something they enjoyed.

  • What is the speaker's current phase of life?

    -The speaker is currently in a transition phase, moving away from sales and considering a path in holistic healing, focusing on spirituality, mind, and body wellness.

  • What advice does the speaker give about finding one's purpose?

    -The speaker advises not to take life too seriously, to follow one's heart and desires without repression, and to understand that finding one's purpose is a non-linear journey that may evolve over time.

  • What does the speaker believe about the impact of societal limitations on children's dreams?

    -The speaker believes that societal limitations can be tragic, as they can stifle children's imagination and potential, leading to a world where people may not realize their true purpose until much later in life.

Outlines

00:00

🔍 Discovering Life's Purpose: A Personal Journey

The speaker reflects on the importance of finding one's purpose in life, sharing their personal struggle and gradual progress towards understanding their own. They express envy towards individuals who have a clear mission and are motivated by it, and they lament the lack of societal guidance in this quest. The speaker suggests that finding one's purpose often involves a process of elimination, trying different paths and eliminating those that don't resonate. They share their own experiences, from aspiring to be an engineer to realizing it wasn't their true calling, emphasizing the value of hindsight in connecting life's dots.

05:01

🏋️‍♂️ Transitioning Careers: From Fitness to Sales to Healing

The speaker continues their narrative by discussing their experiences as a fitness coach and a personal trainer, which helped them identify their passions and the ability to earn a living doing what they love. However, they soon realized that this was not their ultimate destination. They then transitioned into sales, where they gained valuable skills and met many great people, but still felt the desire for a deeper purpose. The speaker is currently contemplating their next phase, which involves holistic healing—focusing on mind, body, and spirit. They believe that their past experiences have prepared them for this new direction and express their readiness to share their journey with others through YouTube videos.

10:02

🌱 Embracing Evolution and Self-Discovery

In the final paragraph, the speaker emphasizes that understanding one's purpose is not a linear process and may involve unexpected changes in direction. They advise not to take life too seriously and to follow one's heart and desires without repression. The speaker criticizes the societal and parental limitations imposed on children's aspirations and imaginations, suggesting that if these were not present, the world could be a very different place. They invite the audience to share their own life journeys, realizations, and experiences, regardless of their age, and conclude by encouraging open dialogue and self-exploration.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Purpose in Life

The concept of 'Purpose in Life' refers to the overarching direction and meaning that individuals seek to achieve in their lives. In the video, the speaker discusses their personal journey to find their life purpose, emphasizing the importance of understanding what one wants out of life and the kind of life one wishes to lead. This concept is central to the video's theme, as the speaker shares their evolving understanding of their own purpose.

💡Journey

The 'Journey' in this context refers to the ongoing process of self-discovery and personal development that the speaker experiences. The speaker mentions that they are still on their journey to understanding their life purpose, highlighting that it is a continuous and evolving process rather than a fixed destination. This journey involves trying different paths and learning from experiences.

💡Self-Discovery

Self-discovery is the process of gaining insight into one's own character, values, and purpose. The speaker talks about how they have come to understand more about what they want in life by trying different careers and reflecting on their passions and interests. This concept is crucial as it underscores the importance of introspection and personal growth in finding one's life purpose.

💡Process of Elimination

The 'Process of Elimination' refers to the method of discovering one's interests and dislikes by trying various activities and career paths and deciding what does not fit. The speaker explains that by engaging in activities they did not enjoy, they could eliminate those options and move closer to understanding what they truly want to do. This concept illustrates a practical approach to self-discovery.

💡Passion

Passion refers to a strong and barely controllable emotion or enthusiasm for something. In the video, the speaker mentions that pursuing passions, such as working out and helping others achieve fitness goals, played a significant role in their journey. This highlights the idea that identifying and following one's passions is a key component of finding life purpose.

💡Transition

Transition in this context refers to the periods of change and adaptation in the speaker's career and personal life. The speaker describes transitioning from engineering to fitness coaching, and later to a sales career, each step bringing them closer to understanding their true purpose. This concept is important as it shows that finding one's purpose often involves multiple transitions.

💡Holistic Healing

Holistic Healing involves treating the mind, body, and spirit as interconnected components of overall well-being. The speaker reveals that their current focus is on holistic healing, indicating a shift towards a more integrated approach to health and personal fulfillment. This concept ties into the speaker's broader theme of evolving life purpose.

💡Motivation

Motivation is the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way. The speaker mentions how individuals who have a clear sense of their life purpose often exhibit strong motivation and enthusiasm for life. This underscores the idea that finding one's purpose can lead to a more driven and fulfilling existence.

💡Self-Reflection

Self-reflection involves serious thought or consideration of one's own behavior, values, and life choices. The speaker frequently reflects on their past decisions and experiences to understand their evolving purpose. This practice is highlighted as essential for personal growth and finding one's direction in life.

💡Limiting Beliefs

Limiting Beliefs are convictions that constrain one's abilities and potential. The speaker discusses how societal and parental expectations can impose limiting beliefs, preventing individuals from pursuing their true desires. Overcoming these beliefs is presented as a crucial step towards discovering and fulfilling one's life purpose.

Highlights

The importance of finding one's life purpose and the journey to understand what one wants out of life.

The speaker's personal journey of self-discovery and how they are getting closer to understanding their life purpose each year.

The envy of those who seem to have a clear mission and drive in life, which motivated the speaker to find their own purpose.

The rarity of people who find their life purpose early on and the societal lack of guidance on how to discover it.

The idea that most people live without discovering their purpose, which the speaker finds tragic.

The principle of hindsight being 2020, and how it's only possible to connect the dots of one's life looking back.

The process of elimination as a method to find one's purpose by trying and rejecting things that don't resonate.

The realization that certain career paths or business ventures are not fulfilling, leading to a change in direction.

The speaker's experience as a fitness coach and personal trainer, and how it helped them identify their passions.

The transition from sales to a new phase of life, indicating the speaker's ongoing search for their purpose.

The concept of holistic healing as the speaker's current direction, involving mind, spirit, and body.

The speaker's realization that their journey has been about healing and how they plan to share this with the world.

The non-linear nature of understanding one's purpose and how it can change over time.

Advice to not take life too seriously and to follow one's heart and desires without repression.

The impact of societal and parental limitations on children's dreams and aspirations.

The tragedy of not discovering one's purpose until late in life and the importance of allowing children to explore freely.

An invitation for the audience to share their own life journey, experiences, and realizations.

Transcripts

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I want to talk about how to find your

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purpose in life and you know what it

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means to find your purpose because it

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took me a very very long time to

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understand you know what I wanted out of

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life and what kind of life I wanted to

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live and what I wanted to dedicate my

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life to and I feel like I'm still on

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that journey of understanding what my

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life purpose is but

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every year I'm getting closer and closer

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to it and I don't think I need to sell

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you on why the idea of finding your life

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purpose and understanding what it is um

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is important because I feel like do you

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know those people who just know exactly

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what they you know what they're put on

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this planet to do like they have a

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mission that that drives them they have

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mission that wakes them up you know

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being feeling really really motivated to

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just live life right just do the things

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that they love and and growing up I've

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met a handful of people like that and

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you know it always strikes me as

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something that like it's like oh like I

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want to get to that level right I want

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to I want to get to the point where I

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have that

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much just love for life right so uh I I

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think it started from a place of sort of

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like jealousy sort of like Envy yeah

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sort of like Envy of like like wow you

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have your figured out right uh I

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want to do that like I want to have my

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figured out as well I think some

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people are really lucky in that they

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find out their life purpose very very

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early on in life right maybe when they

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20 maybe when the 30 maybe when they're

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40 maybe even you know a little bit

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older than that and I mean I think most

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people go through life without figuring

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out their their purpose and they live a

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life that's not really their

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own and I think that's I think that's

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really

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sad I think that's really tragic and I

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don't think

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that Society really teaches people how

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to find the life purpose I think it's

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something

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that everyone sort of has to figure out

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their own

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way but with that being said I think

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there are a few principles that I've

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seen and I've personally experienced and

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learned myself that will guide you and

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would help you along the

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way and one of the things

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that you know how they

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say hindsight is Is 2020 right you can

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only connect the dots looking backwards

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and you know I believe it because if you

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would asked

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me uh let's see four years ago right uh

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what my life purpose was I would have

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told you that that uh it was to become

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an engineer right it was to um you know

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work cor for job and you know clock in

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clock out 9 to-5 kind of stuff kind of

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laughing even just you know saying that

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out loud because of how ridiculous it

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sounds now

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but I can only look back and and you

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know have that sort of reaction because

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I went through that phase because I I

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went through that and I realized it it

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wasn't me right so I think there's two

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um there's two ways there's two main

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ways right number one

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is doing things

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that you don't like right doing things

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that you hate or you have no passion in

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and then realizing that you don't want

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to do it anymore right so it's like uh

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process of elimination it's like oh I

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tried this or I went through this career

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path or you know I I did this uh you

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know I started this business and I

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realize it's not for me right so you

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cross it out you eliminate that and then

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you move on right then you you try

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something

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else um so that's number one the second

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sort of option or whatever you want to

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call it

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is trying things and then realizing that

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yes I like parts of this uh you know I I

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don't like these parts so much and then

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of course correcting and adjusting along

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the

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way and you know I don't think there's a

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a right or wrong way to do it I think

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both are are equally as effective

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because remember when I started out it

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was like okay I don't want to do this

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anymore I did not want to be an engineer

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and that's what really started my path

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of trying to figure out like what did I

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want to do right what what do I actually

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enjoy doing for the sake of doing it not

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just because you know somebody my

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parents what ever told me that I needed

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to do

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it uh so the second the second path or

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the second kind of like step in in my

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own Journey was uh becoming a fitness

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coach but becoming a personal trainer

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boys been passionate about working out

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helping others kind of achieve their

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their fitness goals and I did that for a

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year and a half and uh that was a really

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great experience because it helped me

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see uh number one what I was uh

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passionate and number two I could make

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money in it

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um but I realized that it wasn't the the

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end Journey it wasn't the end

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destination for me right and now

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currently today I'm in a transition

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phase where um I'm transitioning outside

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of the sales space where I've been in

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sales for the past really two two and a

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half years and it's amazing love it met

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so many great people picked up so many

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great skills um but I'm starting to

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realize that it's not where I want to

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stay for the rest of my life right this

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is really just

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another step that I'm Le frogging into

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the next phase of my life and I've been

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giving some thought as to what I want to

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do and what I want to dedicate the rest

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of my life to and you know maybe this is

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a little bit um you know what's the

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right

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word shortsighted to say that I I

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figured it out so I don't think I'm

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going to say I figured it out but I have

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an idea of of what I do want to do for

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the next phase of my life and and it has

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to do with um really healing right

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spirituality healing the Mind healing

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the spirit healing the body this

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holistic healing because when I look

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back at my own journey and I've seen

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sort of the the dots starting to connect

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I realized that I've been on this

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journey really for for many many years

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and I feel like I'm I'm finally ready to

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start sharing that with the world which

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is why I make these YouTube videos if

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you ask me you know again a couple years

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ago like hey James what do you think

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you'll be doing in you know four or five

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years and I said oh I'm A Healer or I'm

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getting into this you know work to do

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with you know healing the Mind healing

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the body and and healing the spirit um

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I'd probably laugh at you I'd probably

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laugh at myself CU that would sound

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really really

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ridiculous but you know it's uh life is

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interesting life will throw curveballs

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at you and sometimes just gotta run with

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it so I guess the point I'm try to make

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is you know understanding your purpose

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is is not a a linear thing right you

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might think that um you know you've

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figured it out and then in a couple

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months in a couple years you realized

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like oh I was a full um I didn't really

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know what I wanted but I think

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[Music]

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the the concept I'm trying to get around

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or the concept trying to get across is

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as long as you continue to evolve and as

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long as you stay true to

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yourself you will find it eventually

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right and and it might be the complete

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opposite of what you were expecting to

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do right so you might be uh you might

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think that you know your your dream job

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your your purpose is to like I don't

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know work in

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corporate finance or or whatever and

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then you realize somewhere online that

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oh I actually hate this I don't

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want to do anymore uh and then you

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become like a hippie I the terrible

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example but I think you get the point

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I'm I'm trying to get across yeah so my

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advice um don't take life too seriously

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follow your heart really

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follow your desires and try not to

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repress them right try not to repress

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them and I think I think this is the the

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worst thing that that we're taught as

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children is that you

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know we can't be anything that we want

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to be which is which is a falsehood

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right that's a that's a limiting belief

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that's a falsehood it's really

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interesting because you know when we're

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younger right when we're children um you

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know there were no limits to our

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imagination or there is no limit to um

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you know what what you or I want it to

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be right we could be an astronaut we

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could be the president we could be a

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dinosaur and then somewhere along the

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way as we grow up right we get these uh

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rules put in place we get these these

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limits and they don't come for us right

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they come from outside but we

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internalize that and that stays with us

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for you know a very very long time right

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could stay with us for the rest of our

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lives we're not aware of it and I think

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it's really really tragic because

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if we just gave children the space to

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roam or the space to to be

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themselves I wonder how different of a

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world we'd live in today right if

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everyone was able to figure out what

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their purpose is and why they're on this

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planet from a very very young age as

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opposed to you know figure out when

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you're 60 70 that's Ty how you figure

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out before you die

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died I think that's a tragedy anyways

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didn't mean to get super dark at the end

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here but I guess let me know where where

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you're at in your life Journey right and

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what are the things that you've tried

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what are the things that you've done and

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most importantly what are the

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realizations that you've come to realize

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at your age I don't care if you're 20 I

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don't care if you're 40 50 60 80

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whatever it is I'd love to hear you know

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just a portion of story and that's all I

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got for you today stay tuned

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Related Tags
Life PurposePersonal GrowthSelf-DiscoveryPassionCareer PathHolistic HealingJourneyMotivationInspirationSelf-Reflection