Becoming Wholly Human. A method to find your place in the world

An introduction to how to make sense of everything.

It’s easy to feel confused, skeptic, and overwhelm about life and the world. Unable to make sense of it all, leaving us clueless about our place in the bigger scheme. And yet, it’s unlikely that there isn’t a proven path to deal with all of this. There is. Although simple, it can seem complex at first. But it’s available to anyone looking for a better option than living without one. That option is what we call becoming Wholly Human, involving the personal, social, and spiritual spheres of life.

We won’t define spirituality today, but we’ll just mention that it has nothing to do with senseless mythology or religious dogma.

To illustrate the Wholly Human model, think of an atom. Now think of a molecule. And now, think of a living cell. Atoms make molecules that make cells. And cells make something larger than themselves. Now connect these images and think of your personal life as an atom, the social as a molecule, and the spiritual as a cell. Pulling from this analogy, we can say that the personal is about structure, the social about culture, and the spiritual about purpose.

Becoming Wholly Human is about joining the personal, social, and spiritual spheres of life, in a certain way. But the real value comes from something that appears on its own accord as you put them together. While becoming Wholly Human is a process, it results in something else, Human Ability. This post focuses on the process.

As implied, there is a method to all of this. And that is what the Wholly Human Project is all about. This comes from a collection of field notes and proven advice from almost two decades of insatiable reading, and experience in various fields, including the Academic, International Cooperation, and Entrepreneurship. From these fields, it’s clear that there are many approaches, initiatives, publications, and organizations devoted to great causes. Trying to save the world, you could say. Yet, judging from first hand experience, the vast majority are trying to save the world from the same place than everyone else is destroying it from: ego.

Instead of taking action from the pressure of doing something before it’s too late, from the guilt-tripping that activists promote, or from a feeling of hopelessness about the future, we think it’s wiser to step back and try to make sense of everything first. Which will help you understand your place in the world, through a renewed understanding, and a much better approach on how to do something. Ego free.

This is the initial post from the Wholly Human Project. And it serves as a brief introduction to its vision, scope, and premises. You can read below a short outline, but if you’re reading this and feel interested, make sure to follow this publication. That way you can learn more about our approach and how to make sense of the endless stream of information, advice, and knowledge available these days.

Let this journey begin.

First Stop: Rethinking Life’s Standards

Becoming Wholly Human starts with rethinking the standards for each of the three major spheres of life: personal, social, and spiritual. And then from updating what you think you know. Over time, this translates to your wellness, relationships, and career. One compounds the other, building the foundation for permanent realization. But before we can go into that, let’s paint a picture of how the internet can feel sometimes when looking for answers:

No one knows anything! But here’s my recipe for invisible body fat! Endless sex life! Evergrowing Income! Do Nothing! Just push this button! Listen to me and don’t ever leave! (but just in case, we use cookies!) And we’ll take your money! Now share this with everyone you know! Now!

Of course, this is a caricature, but you can’t say it’s not somehow accurate. And while we can’t make sense from this, we get predisposed. With a narrative like this: “Personal success is about outcomes. It’s all about me. Important people are taking care of important things. Once I get what I want I might get involved. But I must be somebody first. And there’s no way to know about the big questions, so there’s no need to bother”.

From this narrative, on a personal level, the standard becomes external outcomes. On the social, status. And on the spiritual, well, no real standard, but it seems to result in repulsion to it. But for those who do include spirituality in their lives, it looks like it’s about knowing the “truth”, which, as a spiritual standard we can call certainty.

Now, let’s review these common standards: outcomes, status, and certainty.

Personal Standard: Forget Outcomes. Think Consistency

Most advice, everywhere, focuses on external outcomes: money, looks, bodyfat, love life, followers, degrees, credentials, sex, lifestyle, diet, and on, and on. And these are part of life, there’s no denying that. But they are a result of your actions, and by themselves, can’t cause lasting fulfillment. Therefore, it’s a much better strategy to observe and respect what’s consistent about their cause. If you focus on what’s consistent about the way of getting the outcomes, they will come inevitably.

This consistency, however, devoid of any meaning or a larger picture is not only selfish but largely irrelevant. And here’s where the idea of becoming whole enters the picture. You do give proper recognition to the personal elements that are part of a wholly life, as they serve a role. Yet money, lifestyle, and wellness are effects and not causes. Effects caused by consistency, as well as from contribution and congruency, as seen below.

The guiding theme of the personal level of life is STRUCTURE. Which is easily brought about through consistency. This will produce external outcomes, but they can now be put into use at the social level as the next stage in becoming Wholly Human.

Social Standard: Forget Status. Think Contribution

Let’s go back for a moment. Following the common narrative, if you get all the outcomes at the personal level, you may become entitled, and claim your social standard: status. This usually looks like an extension of your selfish self into the social.

Yay. What a treat. We can’t wait to know all about you and your pet. (Sighs)

Hopefully, the bite of sarcasm brings a point. Which is that, at the social level, it’s not about you. We don’t care. It’s about value. What can you bring to the table? How can you make a contribution? (sure, with your Tesla and all the extra energy from your special diet…)

If you haven’t dealt with your ego, and if you’re lacking the foundation from the personal sphere, you can’t bring any value to the social. So, this brings the sequential element from becoming Wholly Human, the first ingredient from the ´certain way´ that we mentioned in the intro. There’s a sequence to all of this. If your personal sphere is taken care of, from consistency, you then can easily transition into contribution. Which is almost automatic.

The guiding theme of the social level is CULTURE. You can now join, associate, produce and create. With likeminded people, for likeminded folks. It’s not about being more or less than someone (although you will be). It’s about belonging. Which sets the stage for something even larger.

Spiritual Standard: Forget Certainty. Think Congruency

Having your act together from consistency and putting it to work as a contribution, leads to expansion. But, of itself, this expansion can give rise to something cult-like. And it often becomes just that. Because if you stop there, by missing the third level, you will either get caught up in the personal or the social. This can get tricky, but it shouldn’t once you understand how it works.

Going beyond the personal and the social is not forgetting about them. Nor dismissing the role that they have. Go back to the atom, the molecule, and the cell. Without molecules, you have no cell. Same without atoms. But keeping this analogy, you can’t be a blood cell and a neuron at the same time. You must know your function. Know who you are, what you stand for, and what your role is. And this will allow the personal and the social to align to it, through congruency.

The spiritual isn’t about ancient teachings or blind faith. Sure, some teachings have timeless value, and beliefs are part of life, but these are not the core of the spiritual level. It’s about defining something that transcends the personal and the social, that at the same time, serves both. Think of justice, freedom, or peace. Elements like these provide a north star, that both keeps the personal structure and the social culture while allowing for growth, development, and evolution within them, thanks to congruency. And the guiding theme here is PURPOSE.

Making these three levels work, creatively, constructively, and harmoniously, is the proposition from the Wholly Human Project. From the personal consistency, you get the structure, that is then translated as a contribution to the culture at the social level, and these keep moving once they’re guided by a purpose that is fulfilled through congruency at the spiritual level.

This completes the Wholly Human cycle, which, although going beyond yourself, starts with understanding it as in individual. And that’s the goal of this publication. But before closing this introduction, we’ll make a comment on what may come in the way of all of this.

Fixation is the Enemy. Human Ability the goal. Becoming Wholly Human, the method

This introduction wouldn’t be complete without addressing what makes becoming Wholly Human impossible. Which is fixation. In any way, shape, or form. And, keep in mind that once you embrace this method, the goal is not the method itself, but making room for something entirely natural to emerge: Human Ability. As we said, becoming a Wholly Human is a process that enables that result. But you can only achieve it by preventing fixation.

Fixation from not believing in anything. Fixation on the personal, social, or spiritual. Fixation to a group, country, or ideology. Fixation to a religion, philosophy, or ideal. Fixation to anything, really.

“Fixation is the way of death. Fluidity is the way of life.” — Miyamoto Musashi

Think of fanatics, zealots, and extremists. Any form of radical thinking. Anything static, stagnant, or stuck. Fluidity is the way of life. And the only way to become Wholly Human. If you follow this, the results from the process won’t happen overnight, and you can’t expect one post like this to do magic. But this is the essence of becoming Wholly Human. And we’re thrilled to share this with you.

There’s no easy way to have it all, do it all, and be it all. But there is a way: Becoming Wholly Human. The first part’s on you, through learning how to make sense of everything and by following through. The second part happens on its own. It emerges, as you take charge of the personal, social, and spiritual aspects of your life, in special ways. Then the real magic comes when, as you’ve set the conditions in motion, something new emerges: Human Ability.

If you want to learn more, you can join us here.