TO BE OR NOT TO BE.

“The more you understand the world, the more you understand your place in it”. The nature of purpose can resolve many of the concerns the younger generation is currently facing. However, alot of those parts that could resolve their concerns are not being utilized because people don’t see purpose as a tangible problem to fix. If anything, people attempt to treat symptoms such as anxiety and depression without learning the scope of the issue.

Being secure in who you are and your purpose in the world gives you the confidence to work and learn how to align your values with each situation. The key is knowing what matters to you and having the conviction to live your truth every single day.

According to the Making Caring Common project, over 55% of young adults aged 18-25 said they feel they don’t have any purpose in life; they are merely doing the same redundant tasks over and over. The demographic has struggled significantly with understanding their why and is leaning on their education and additional resources to gain deeper knowledge of who they are internally, rather than being defined solely by a degree.

I firmly believe that the more young adults are able to dissect each personal experience and understand the value tied to it, why it’s so important, and how they can apply that to their lives, the more likely they are to find success not just externally, but also to feel good about who they are becoming. They are sitting on a gem that can help them explore the meaning they want; it just takes the right people to help ask the right questions.

The wonderful part about education is that it allows you to process life in a different way — it provides you with opportunities to reimagine how to do things and to explore your identity. However, have you sat in your seat and grimaced when the teacher asked you what you wanted to be after you received your diploma or college degree? There is so much ambiguity with that question, but there are so many possibilities as well. Giving yourself enough space to think about how you can live your life, and finding a field that will align with your strengths.

However, these questions are rooted in academia and sometimes don’t provide enough insight for students to understand how their personal values tie into their experiences and how that can help them get closer to figuring out who they want to be.

Students have time to sit down and examine the components of who they want to become. The intentionality of understanding yourself gives you more clarity to work on the elements that make you, you. What does that look like, and what are some of those experiences in school that have helped you gauge what kind of values mean the most to you?