“Don’t underestimate the power of vision and direction. These are irresistible forces, able to transform what might appear to be unconquerable obstacles into traversable pathways and expanding opportunities. Strengthen the individual. Start with yourself. Take care with yourself. Define who you are. Refine your personality. Choose your destination and articulate your Being.”
Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Page 63)
Beyond the Quote (141/365)
Maps are incredibly useful tools. They chart the unknown territory for us. They show us the way forward. They help us get to where we want to go. And usually, that’s one of the first things we think about when we grab a map—where they can take us. Thinking up where we want to go is easy. New York City! Yellowstone National Park! Australia! We might say. Or, if we’re thinking about where we want to go in life, we might say, “The top of the corporate ladder!” “Until I get a blue checkmark on Instagram!” “To a beautiful mansion with a white picket fence!” But, where they can take us means nothing if we don’t know where we are. And this is the imperative first question to consider—where are you?
Before you can configure any sense of direction or take any step, figuring out where you currently stand is a necessary precursor—if you want to move in the best possible direction that is. Getting to New York City looks a heck of a lot different when you’re coming from Florida than it does when you’re coming from California, for example. The maps that you would need to make those journeys wouldn’t even be in the same category. The same is true for the map you would need to get, “to the top of the corporate ladder,” if you’re coming from an underprivileged, lower-income economic background versus if you were coming from a privileged, upper-middle income background—not even in the same category.
This is why knowing where you are is so crucial. The journeys we need to take to get where we want to go are not the same. None of ours are. And the unfortunate reality is, many people in the world are following maps without any kind of a clear vision of where they are starting from. This is why people find themselves at “dead-ends,” taking longer than anticipated routes, and sometimes working themselves in circles (or worse, backwards). They grab maps that other people made for themselves and try to “copy-paste” it to their life but, maps don’t work like that. It’s not necessarily that the destination or the map is wrong or different—although that very well could be the case. More often than not, in my estimation, the real variable is in the starting points.
So, how do you figure out where you are? This is might not be as obvious as it might sound. From a geographical perspective, yes, you should know precisely where you are (or be able to figure out where you are in a few quick thumb taps). But, from a life perspective, it’s a little more complex.
The questions you should consider looking deeply into might be: What are my fundamental character strengths? What are my opposing weaknesses? What unique skills sets/ resources/ connections do I have access to that I can utilize? What happened in my past that made me who I am today? Am I holding onto anything from the past that’s causing me pain or limiting me in any ways? What habits/ systems do I already have incorporated into my life that are helping me? And likewise, which ones are hurting me? Am I a person who recharges their energy when I’m around people or when I’m by myself? What are my core values/ beliefs that I feel passionate about embodying / defending? What drives me crazy about the world that I wish I could fix? Who are my closest friends? Who do I rely on the most? Who do I admire the most? What do I believe to be true about myself? Why?
…Yes, this is a good starting point. This will give you a more solid foundation of where you actually are in the world so that you can develop your bearings and begin to more accurately pin yourself on a map. You might also consider doing a more formal test that guides you through more specific questions geared towards helping you understand yourself and your specific personality type. Once you finish exercises like this, you may be utterly surprised at how different your life map turns out to be from where it was.
Understanding yourself changes everything about how you look and move and act in the world—and nothing could be a more important or worthwhile effort to undergo. If you don’t think that these exercises are worth your time then you should consider asking yourself this one question: Am I so confident in the answers to all of the above questions that there couldn’t possibly be even one thing I might learn about myself that might give me more insight into who I am and where I am in my world? If you answer yes, then godspeed! If you answered no, then I think you might want to reread this post and grab a pen and paper. Good luck!
Read Next: How To Find Your Path — 4 Questions You Should Obsess Over
Don't Let the Motivation Stop There...!
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