Discerning The Essentials in Your Twenties

THE NEED FOR ESSENTIALISM

At the beginning of last week, after being inspired by yet another self-help podcast, I embarked on changing my entire lifestyle on the premise that change is quick and easy.

Towards the end of the week, I stood discouraged in front of a list of habits that I wished to make consistent in my life. Week after week, I realized that I, like many other podcast listeners, find friction on deciding what truly matters and where my attention should be focused.

Specifically, those of us still early in our career and life, I believe, require purposeful action and undivided focus towards a few, most-important goals. 

For those of us in our twenties, discerning what in our lives we believe to be essential is the most profound decision facing us today. Essentialism has long been hailed as the answer to busy, yet unproductive living. Plato first argued that every living entity has attributes that are vital to the function and identity of that entity, giving it the “essence” of what makes it unique.

Greg McKown, in his book, “Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less,” combats contemporary notions of efficiency by illustrating that the unfocused individual doing many tasks can never be more productive than the focused individual pursuing less with undivided attention and energy.

Moreover, he gives real steps one can take to living a more focused life. For example, he explains prioritizing a few most purposeful tasks everyday, being more willing to decline an invitation for more work or stress, and cutting from your schedule and life short-term goals that do not bring you closer to achieving something you are truly passionate about. 

THE DIFFICULTY IN YOUR TWENTIES

For me, the most difficult step in embracing essentialism has been deciding what I truly believe to be essential within the noise of societal expectations and my personal ambitions for more wealth.

Those of us in college, just graduated from college, beginning our first job, or just trying to figure out what we want to do next with our lives, we must invest time and effort into finding what gives us our essence and decide what avenue we want to pursue.

By tasting different passions, cutting the tasks we do to please others, and executing on what we are truly gifted at, we can find our life’s journey and begin the process of achieving something that might actually make a difference in the world around us. 

Understanding what you are passionate about can be a tedious endeavor which can take years to truly accomplish. In Elon Musk’s biography, “Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future,” Ashlee Vance describes the many avenues Musk decided to pursue before he founded Tesla and SpaceX. Musk founded X.com, an online payment portal, which would go on to become Paypal.

He pursued a passion for reinventing the online payment space, but it was not what he would go on to dedicate his life to. Similarly, you must explore your likes and dislikes for the things you are truly passionate about and make them a priority in your life.

For those of us still early in the process, learning about new areas of study, trying and pursuing hobbies for some time, and dedicating oneself to finding our calling are vital to live a more purposeful life. 

Far more difficult than exploring and finding your passion is cutting the activities and commitments that hold you back from focusing on what is truly essential. Greg McKeown argues in his book that if you do not prioritize your life based on your goals then someone else around you will run your life based on their own agenda.

Often times, we find ourselves stuck between abandoning the ideals and expectations someone around us has created and diving headfirst to do what we think is right. If you do not know what to do next, you often succumb to the advice given to you under the guise of the safety and security of your monetary future. 

It is important to note that essentialism does not produce a shortcut to achieving your goals. Hard work, grit, and determination accompanied with focused action help you advance.

WHERE PASSION MATTERS

With that being said, focusing on the essential may not be the best monetary path in the short term. However, fighting and making your passion your career is worth it. To do so, cut what you do solely for “safety and security”, cut what you do to meet societal expectations, and cut tasks that waste your time and energy. Use the precious time you’ve regained to hone in on what you really want to do. 

Time and time again, there exists those who have passion for too many subjects, injustices, or movements throughout the world. Moreover, one may understand what they truly love to do, but do not know how to enter, innovate, or revolutionize the field they’ve chosen.

One must strive to strike a balance between what they love and what they have a gift for. Doubling down what we are good at and using our strengths to innovate within a field of study is how one can change his trajectory for the better.

For example, the gifted speaker can use his voice and eloquence to fight for a cause he believes in. By using your talent in a field you have a passion for, you can truly bring positive change to a few facets of your interests.

Next week, I am bound to once again embark on bringing new positive habits into my life. With every try, I strive to focus in on what truly matters to me.

While discipline and grit influence how successful one is in changing his or her lifestyle, I believe the first step is narrowing one’s focus and doubling down on a talent in a field the individual is passionate for. By doing so, one can best enhance his or her life and build better habits.