Chasing Deep Purpose: A Digital Nomad’s Writing Adventures in Bali
It’s 8am on a gloomy September morning. While the weather is gray and the sun is hiding behind the clouds, I am lying in my bed and mentally preparing myself for another hot and humid day. Still keeping my eyes closed, I am enjoying a brief moment of peace. A peace that is occasionally disturbed by the sound of heavy traffic in the distance. Foreigners and locals alike are all on their way to kick-off their workday.
Welcome to Bali, the land of digital nomads. Here everybody lives in a constant state of happiness, not occupied with the problems of the outside world. Everybody is calm and relaxed. Everybody is living their dream life. Everybody but me…
While the island gave purpose to so many, why do I feel so lost?
Finding purpose in life is not an easy task
As I sit in the Tropical Nomad coworking space, leaning back in my comfortable chair, I am observing fellow digital nomads going about their working lives. People from different countries and walks of life who all have one thing in common — they all seem like they have everything figured out. They work diligently behind their computers almost in a perfect state of flow. Their eyes fixated on the screens in front of them, while slowly sipping on their favorite fresh pressed juice. They all look like they have found their purpose in life and are seizing each day to work towards it.
Unfortunately, I cannot say the same. If I am completely honest, I don’t have the slightest idea about my purpose. Hell, I don’t even know exactly what I am passionate about.
Being lost started right after graduation when all the structure disappeared. All of a sudden I was the one responsible for making my own (professional) decisions and living with the consequences. I always wanted freedom, but when freedom arrived, it made me even more anxious.
I was always interested in different things, however, not a single one attracted me to the extent that would make me want to specialize. I always had this fear that if I decide to specialize in one, I will be missing out on all the rest. This is the reason I have decided to pursue a career in management consulting. I figured working on projects across various functional topics and industries will help me find my passion, which would guide my life after consulting.
After 5 years of working in a high-paced consulting environment, the moment of epiphany never arrived. Feeling lost and uncertain about the next steps, I decided to take a 12 months sabbatical to go on a year round personal development trip around South East Asia. Luckily, I had a very supportive employer who understood rationale behind my decision.
The real reason why I wanted to take this break is to figure out what the hell I want in life. I had a very successful career back home, but I was failing in all other areas in life. While all my friends were moving in with their significant others and planning families, I was still living with my parents jumping from one relationship to another.
I decided enough was enough. If I wanted to change my life, I needed to change the context.
The idea of becoming a digital nomad and solo travel never really excited me, but I figured that in order to become something I have never been I need to do things that I have never done. I was not happy where my life was going and I had no clue what I really wanted from life so I thought taking the time off from the ordinary and trying new things will give me the answers I was so desperately searching for. Wrong! After almost 3 months on the road, I am left with even more questions.
Helping others must drive my purpose
While I am sipping on my first morning cup of coffee, a habit I kept from my high paced corporate life, I am again thinking about what to do with my life. I am starting to understand that in order to become exceptional I will need to commit to one thing, but the fear of missing out is still present. There is just so much uncertainty to make such an important decision.
One thing I know for certain is that I was always passionate about helping other people. Improving other people’s lives is something that gives me the motivation to get out of bed in the morning. I have gathered vast experience both in my professional life as well as through my journey of personal development (which is far from over) and I believe sharing those lessons would be beneficial to many.
So how can I share these lessons with others?
I figured the easiest way to reach a large audience is through writing.
I was playing with the thought of writing online for a long time, but never pushed myself to start. If I am completely honest, the thought of putting myself out there scares me. What if the people don’t like what I write? What if they judge me? What if I suck at it? What if…?
Fear has its ways to prevent you from doing something even before you start. Today is the day I decided I will not be driven by fear any more. Today is the day I decided to embark on the journey of becoming a writer.
I have always been a firm believer in a growth mindset. Every skill can be learned with enough time and effort dedicated towards it. For this reason, I will treat writing as I would any other skill and develop it through hard work.
Planning is important, but execution is the key
Alright, so I have a goal. What I lack is the plan. Deciding to become a writer is one thing, but executing it successfully is where the challenge begins. How does somebody become better at writing?
I decided to start by asking Chat GPT to give me 200 practical actions that I can implement in order to become a better writer. I will diligently test all 200 and report on the progress. I also plan to build my knowledge by taking an online writing course and reading top 15 books on the topic of writing and storytelling.
I plan to document my journey from a beginner writer nobody cares about to (hopefully) becoming a great writer whose stories people actually enjoy reading. I am excited to see where this adventure will take me.
Inspired by my story? Follow and join me on my journey from writing zero to a writing hero :)