Accomplishments: Finding Fulfillment

The lifter stands with weights in each hand, pulling until their arms are numb and hands are torn. They rack their weights and look to target another muscle group. They know that there are shortcuts, but they choose to work harder. They know that once they achieve success, it will be diminished, people will cry about genetics, or available resources, or accuse the lifter of utilizing shortcuts. The lifter does not care, they continue doing what they desire, and they put in the work.

Think of something in your life that you accomplished that made you proud. It is easy to resort to the awards, or the stages, or the applause, but try to turn away from events that are closely related to social acceptance. What is truly the source of your perception of self? 

The painter is a painter not for the paintings they sell but for the days they spend before the canvas, grappling to capture an aspect of self. The bodybuilder builds the self through their constant drive to work harder, not the hour posing on stage. The scientist discovers the self in the hours of pouring over data, observations, and literature reviews, not when their work is published. 

The self exists in the process, not the result. This is the art of a goal.

A goal is a direction through which we discover the self. As humans, fulfilling work is as necessary as a social circle. Unfulfilling work is a parasite of our vigor, energy, and time. It is difficult for fulfilling work to also be a main source of income, but if it enables fulfilling work, it is another step toward the goal. 

What is the goal? The goal is the realization of the self. Everybody starts their life a stranger to the self. Through a path of bold self-discovery, we uncover the self and become genuine. This bold self-discovery is both the enabler and the result of fulfilling work. Without self-discovery, one cannot find their passion for fulfilling work, without fulfilling work, one will always feel something is missing. 

How does one find fulfilling work? There is no singular path but a random scattering of efforts toward multiple crafts. While this process is costly and draining, it is also essential without passion.

To live without pursuit of passion is settling for a lesser life. To live without fulfilling work is to leave your muse unfulfilled. Thus, it is important to ask yourself: What makes me proud of myself? What is my source of fulfillment? Only then can we find our passion.

Once you find your passion, hold onto it with everything. Passion is the path of self-actualization, the most essential goal post in life. Be the painter behind the canvas, the lifter with their weights, be the person that is fulfilled by life and invigorated by their passion. Set the goal of the self and then pursue it endlessly.

Most of us are lost, we are victims of parasitic work for we know no alternative. I too was lost. Lost in the mindless recollection of facts and numbers, paddling against the rapids. Then, I found the words in the numbers. By reframing parasitic work, I found the aspects that aligned with my passion. Then I was liberated. The muses favor effort, even effort toward unfiling work, only with effort will they reveal the passion beneath the work.

— William Ouyang