WorldSave

Recently, a friend of mine is having trouble deciding what to do with his life. We’ve all been there. We have a lifetime in front of us and no clue what to spend it on. We may have passions, but we’re not certain we can make a living with those passions. Or we’re just totally at a loss for everything. No clue.

Not only this, but many of us are stuck in jobs that we do not love. We still don’t know what we want out of life, but we do know that this job just isn’t it. I know I’ve been there, and I know a ton of other people who know that experience all too well.

So what does one do when stuck like that? They find out what their true purpose is.

I have a few resources I would like to share with you. I hope these two sites don’t mind me sending you their way because I have found them both extraordinarily helpful in both my life and in getting WorldSave up and running.

The first is about how to know what your true purpose is: http://www.relfe.com/life_purpose.html

The second tells you how you can find that purpose out in a relatively easy manner: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/01/how-to-discover-your-life-purpose-in-about-20-minutes/

Granted, I haven’t tried the second one yet. We got WorldSave running before then and I feel like this is my purpose in life. Still, I may yet give it a go to fine-tune my purpose and to really get an understanding for it.

I would like to add my two cents now about being unhappy about your job, wanting to do something but either not knowing what it is or how to do it, and finding true purpose in life so you can be satisfied as well as productive to the rest of the world.

First, about being unhappy in your job. What are you doing? Really? Why are you wasting your time? Your energy can always be better spent doing something you enjoy. Even if you need the money, you can always make it work to get a better job. Always. You, as an individual, are a unique being with your own lessons, your own wisdom, and you can find a way to share that with others and make money. So, if you are unhappy in your job, follow some of the steps above and find out what your true purpose is. Then seek it. Don’t quit your job, not yet anyway. Make sure you are secure in your new way of life. Make sure your new source of income is flowing and you will be supported in a switch. You may want to leave your old job as soon as possible, but you can’t do anything if you’re not supported. Rule number one is to take care of you. You can’t usually take care of you without some cash.

If you don’t know what it is you want to do, as I said, try those steps above. If that doesn’t work, write a list of all the things that make you happy. Things you enjoy. Go crazy, make a HUGE list. It can be ANYTHING. Take your sweet time with it. It can take days if you want. Search every nook and cranny of your soul until you feel satisfied that this is a complete list. After you’re done, circle the things that are also valuable to someone else. The things that can make someone else’s life richer if you did it. Then re-write your list with those circled things. If you couldn’t find anything on your list that you think would be valuable to someone else, you’re probably not approaching it in the right way. I’m not talking about valuable as in “I can type, so I’d be a good secretary” or “I can drive, maybe I’ll be a delivery person.” Not at all. I mean something like “I know about health, and I can make people healthy” or “I know how to grow things, I can teach people how to grow their own food.” Things like that, things that are truly valuable–not just in a monetary way but also (and more importantly) in way that adds lasting value to their life. Think of: Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.

Moving on… Pick the things on the new list that you truly feel you would enjoy most. Or, if you’ve done the “true purpose” exercise, pick things that match that purpose (things you feel strongly about). Now you have a list of things you can pursue and would 1) make you satisfied and 2) be of value to the rest of the world. Congratulations. Now, about getting started…

Find a way to express this new idea. You want to teach people about time management? How about start a blog to make money from it? That’s a simple way to get started in your free time. Want to teach people about health? Start holding lectures at some local places for a small fee, or no fee at all if you want to get some clients. Write a book. Write essays for a paper. Teach people how to care for their pets properly, including nutrition. It can be anything, really. Use your ingenuity. When whatever you choose takes off the ground, then you can spend less and less hours at your other job and eventually just leave it entirely.

Finding a purpose in life is very important. You don’t need one to survive — of course not. So many people survive without knowing theirs every day. But in order to survive happily — to thrive — then you may be interested in figuring it out and actually pursuing it. All I know is that I was sick and tired of grocery store jobs, of retail and nasty customers, of bosses treating me like less than a person. If you can relate, then do it your way. Become your own boss. Do whatever it is that makes your life satisfying to you and worthwhile to others. Add value to the world, don’t take it away like so many other people do.

Lia Cross

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I need money. Pure and simple. So, what does one do when they need money? If you need it now, you get a job (most unfortunately). What I did was apply at a local bank. I was taken to an online “quiz” of sorts, which was apparantly to see “where my strengths lie” and if they have a position for me that uses those strenghts.

I’m not stupid. I know that its really just a test to weed out people. I know that its to sort out dumbasses who don’t understand that you’re supposed to lie on these things. But you know what? I’m not going to lie. I don’t think that’s right—to lie to look good. So, I answered each of their dumb, time wasting questions as best as I could. I didn’t choose the “strongly agree” or “strongly disagree” choices, which you’re supposed to (apparantly it looks good). I chose all of them, where applicable. I was also told that I had varying amounts of time to answer each question (20 seconds at one point). I came acoss a question I wasn’t sure of, because it dealt with something I had never done. I asked my partner what they meant, but he was sleeping so all I got was a “uurrgghhhaa?” This, in turn, wasted time. I had to try and shut him up so I could think straight, and before I could click my answer the screen changed and said “There are no more questions.”

Okay. So I knew that was a lie. I knew there were more questions, but they weren’t going to give them to me because I ran out of time. What if I had a legitimate reason? What if, suddenly, my dog was choking and I had to help him? Or, any one of my housemates was calling for help? Or what if I was a mother and had to attend to an injured child? Anything? Nope, doesn’t matter, cause I only had 20 seconds –and everyone knows real life doesn’t matter.

Anyway, back on topic. I knew I didn’t get the job (I was glad, I didn’t really want it). The next day I got an e-mail from them saying:

“Thank you for your interest in the Customer Service Representative (Teller) position with [insert bank name]. We appreciate the time you spent completing our application process.

The ultimate goal of our selection process is to create the right fit by matching candidates with roles in which their strengths would be truly maximized. We believe this approach provides individuals with the greatest opportunities for professional growth and personal satisfaction. At this time, we do not have a role that would take full advantage of your strengths. As a result, we will not be considering you for a Customer Service Representative (Teller) position.”

What a load of crap. You’re not fooling anyone. I know your “selection process” isn’t to create any sort of fit. You don’t really care about my well-being. You just care that you get someone who’s fit for your job—in other words, not a complete dumbass. And, really, your test doesn’t serve to do that. All it does is make sure you’re getting someone who’s good at clicking, and who is morally okay with lying. That’s right, cause I don’t know anyone who is 100% agreeable or disagreeable about (mostly) anything. You might get like 5 out of 100 questions that a person is 100% with or against. But guess what? Nobody is that black and white. And if they were, I wouldn’t care to know them. Life isn’t black and white. You can’t answer questions in black and white. And I’m not going to pretend I’m black and white. There’s grey. Lots of it. I’m proud of that grey. Its called critical thinking and a personality.

So, I’m pretty much done with stupid jobs. I’m tired of this system that thrives on lies and fake politeness. That’s what this website is about—to break out of that. To change these stupid rules, pointless tests, this way that society is trying to define us by little tests and shuttle us into jobs that don’t care about us. To teach people that there is value in themselves, and that they are not valuable because someone else makes money off of them. You have something of value—YOU—and you should tell people about it. Give this world whatever wisdom you have. Whatever skill you have. Whatever it is that makes this world a better place. People want that—they need it. We all need people to care for once… for the focus to be making this world a better place, rather than making a quick buck.

Not to say you shouldn’t make money. You should. Money shows that people find value in your service. But you shouldn’t want to do something solely for what it pays you. That leads down a really unsatisfying road. Do something of value to others and money will come. You’ll be in line with something you agree with, something you thrive with, and something that adds to rather than takes away from the world.

Lia Cross

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