Too many people today are living everybody else’s life but theirs. They spend their entire lifetime trying to be this or that person, and not a single moment reflecting on who they are – on what they have been called to do here on the earth. Instead of being themselves, they would rather be imposters.
You cannot blame many of these people in a sense. You may even be one of them. Like everyone else, you may have listened to what the superior figures in your life told you – your parents, teachers, and even society.
The pressure is usually very high most people fall for it. But until you rise and begin living your life and staying true to what you have been put here to do, you will continually feel unsatisfied with everything, including work.
1. Why You Should Stay True To Your Calling
You’ve probably heard it said in the business and career circles that when you’re doing what you love, you won’t spend a day working. That’s because your life will feel fulfilling as opposed to being a drag. When fulfilling your life’s calling, even the problems and challenges you have seem like a worthy adventure.
On the flip side, when you’re living everybody else’s life, doing what society or your parents expect, life can easily become a drag. And that high paying job? It can quickly become a drudge and the reason for unhappiness.
So how do you stay true to your calling in a world where there are so many imposters (or people mimicking others with their lives)? How do you break free from the imitation-regret cycle that drains your soul?
2. First, You Have To Find Your Place. Who Are You?
While the topic of discovering who you are is for another post, I have to mention it here. Staying faithful to your calling begins with you finding your calling. There is a lot of advice to help you do that out there, but one critical direction I can have you follow is for you to look inward.
Reflect on your gifts, potentials, desires, what makes you happy and what makes you sad, your natural inclinations, and so on. Most people end up following a career path that their parents pointed them towards, but that is also the very opposite of what they should be doing when you look at their makeup.
I understand that at some point in our lives we get stuck trying to figure out who we indeed are, why we are alive on earth, and what we’re meant to be doing with our lives and all the skills, gifts, and potentials we have. So we try different things or follow the advice that promises us more money. But if the path you take ignores your basic makeup, you will never truly be happy with your life.
In some cases, you might even find success in those areas. Still, you’ll be among the hundreds of thousands of successful people who have imposter syndrome. imposter syndrome is a feeling/psychological pattern where a person continually doubts his/herself, skills, accomplishments, talents, and so on, and continuously lives in fear that he/she will get to the point where they fail and are exposed for not being enough or being a ‘fraud.’
3. Understand That You Have A Role
You must understand that you have a role to play on the earth. You have something to offer. You’re not here by accident but by design. God (or the universe, if that’s what you subscribe to) didn’t put you here to be another statistic.
What would have happened if Mahatma Gandhi of India or Martin Luther King Jr., or William Wilberforce all didn’t stay true to their callings. What if Mohammed Ali became a lawyer? They all didn’t walk the same path, but they all made an impact on the earth. History remembers them for that impact. What will it be for you?
4. Listen To The Voice Inside You
They call it by different names – your guts, intuition – whatever. Learn to listen to that inner voice. It knows a lot about your unique journey and role on the earth than many of your counsellors.
That doesn’t mean you will never need outside counsel; you will! But the direction of your life begins from within, not outside. We are all packaged with that voice to point us in the right direction. It may feel like it’s only your voice, but it’s not.
If you can find time for deep and quiet reflections, meditations, or any other similar practice, you will be able to clear the noise in your head so that you can genuinely hear that voice. You don’t need to go esoteric on this. A simple meditation or reflection as said will suffice.
5. Dare To Be You!
You’re unique, and the world needs that uniqueness. No one on the planet has ever walked your journey before. Many have walked a similar path that you can learn from, but yours is unique. Even your biology proves to you that you have a unique road to travel.
Your fingerprints, your eye prints, and your entire makeup are unique. Dare to be you. Dare to walk your journey. Dare to follow your calling and be who you were meant to be.
Don’t try to be that celebrity and abandon you. Stars are great because their lives or paths inspire us to be our best and reach our highest potentials. But that’s it. Anything else – dressing, walking, talking like them, or imitating their journey – is being an imposter.
6. Be you!
Embrace Uncertainty
One primary reason a lot of people ditch their calling is that they want to follow a secure path. Most times that means a path that is sure to bring in the money and ensure they are not in lack. This is one reason many people try to follow the trails of other successful people.
It’s not wrong to have something doing that pays the bills while trying to blaze your own trail. But if you embrace the secure path alone and ignore your passion and purpose, you’ll come to a point where nothing satisfies you.
Embrace the uncertainty. It’s part of the adventure. No matter how secure your life and career is, you still can’t see all that’s coming. To minimize the uncertainty and ensure that your body and souls are still intact before you break out in your chosen field, you can get a job.
If you love to sing or write, you can get a job that ensures you can feed, clothe yourself, and put a roof over your head. But make sure you engage your gifts on the side. Become a freelance writer or start your blog. Get some side gig where you can express your musical talent.
Still, you must find a way to embrace the uncertainty. No one knows it all, and no one knows tomorrow.
You will never live your best life living like somebody else. Whatever you have been called to do on the earth, dare to embrace it and stay true to your calling. It is very easy to pretend to be someone else, but that way of life would do more harm to you mentally and psychologically than it will do you good.
Before you leave, you should know that success has different meanings. A sizeable financial estate is one of its most coveted meanings. But so are joy, love, peace of mind, the ability to enjoy laughter and a meal with someone you love, being able to impact other people positively, and most importantly, health.
Don’t choose your path based on someone else’s definition of success. Stay true to your calling.
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