APN25 - Highest Goals & Holy Grails

You're listening to Optimize with Bryan Johnson. More Wisdom in Less Time this is a mini chapter from Brian's book A Philosopher's Notes. You can find it on Amazon.

Alright, welcome to the Purpose and Self Awareness section. As always, we've got a handful of my favorite quotes that really capture the energy of this section. We'll start with one by Abraham Maslow. He tells us musicians must make music, artists must paint, poets must write if they are to be ultimately at peace with themselves. What human beings can be, they must be. They must be true to their own nature. This need we may call self actualization. It refers to man's desire for self fulfillment, namely to the tendency for him to become actually in what he is, potentially to become everything one is capable of becoming. Marcus Aurelius tells us everything. A horse, a vine is created for some duty. For what task then were you yourself created? A man's true delight is to do the things he was made for. Confucius tells us, the three armies can be deprived of their commanding officer, but even a common man cannot be deprived of his purpose. Krishna tells us it is better to strive in one's own Dharma than to succeed in the Dharma of another. Nothing is ever lost in following one's own Dharma, but competition in another's Dharma breeds fear and insecurity. Proverbs 29:18 tells us, where there is no vision, the people perish. And finally, William Shakespeare says this above to thine own self be true, and it must as the night of the day, thou canst not then be false to any man. Purpose and Self awareness What inspires you? What's your Dharma? Your purpose? Your highest calling? Living an authentically awesome life requires knowing thyself plus an empowering vision. Here's the first mini chapter in the Purpose and Self Awareness section. Highest Goals and Holy Grails before we jump into this whole purpose thing, let's get really clear on something. When I talk about discovering and living our purpose, I'm not talking about pausing everything in our lives and going out on a Holy Grail chase to discover something mysterious that's hidden somewhere, hard to reach, that only the lucky few ever discover. Umm, not so much now. I definitely believe we all have a unique constellation of strengths and experiences and passions that blend together in ineffable ways, leading us to our most authentically awesome lives. But it's really easy to get all wrapped up in that and miss the fact that living a life of purpose isn't a someday when I figured it all out and I've discovered my purpose, I'll be happy and until then my life sucks kind of thing. Nope. Living a life of purpose is all about knowing that our ultimate purpose, our highest goal, is seeing just how consistently we can plug into the best within us. In short, to live with integrity. Yes, I'm repeating myself. It's deliberate. With that as our ultimate purpose and highest goal every moment, that gives us an opportunity to be on purpose and. Well, that's awesome. Plus, as it turns out, when we focus on our highest goal, we tend to be a lot happier now. And the specific purpose dharma or destiny we're here to fulfill tends to come to us without so much fuss. So as we go out and rock it, let's remember the ultimate purpose formula Integrity Equals Bliss.

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