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4:22

Today we're talking about something that becomes

4:24

more and more important to us the

4:26

older we get. When we're

4:28

young, we definitely want to have

4:30

a purpose and find meaning, but

4:32

the urgency of all that isn't

4:34

as tangible as when we're older.

4:36

We're young. We've got a lot

4:38

of time left before we have

4:40

to be serious about life, right?

4:42

Of course, that's never right. But

4:44

no one who was ever young

4:47

would tell you now that they

4:49

didn't think it was when they

4:51

were young. The youth are invincible

4:53

and unconcerned with time as a

4:55

result. They do want to make

4:57

an impact in the world, but they

4:59

know they've got plenty of time to figure

5:01

it out in most cases. And in most

5:03

cases, they're right. When you get older, though,

5:06

say 40, like me, things that

5:08

you never imagined being oppressively concerned

5:11

with begin becoming things that you

5:13

are oppressively concerned with. And at

5:15

some point, and this happened to

5:17

me in my mid 30s, I'd

5:20

say you really do begin to

5:22

internalize the truth that time is

5:24

running out and that there exists

5:26

within you this overwhelming instinct

5:29

to figure it

5:31

out, to get it sorted,

5:33

to make it happen, or

5:35

something like that. It

5:38

is never a single thing, but

5:40

more like an emotion related to

5:42

many things and which lives under

5:44

the umbrella of fulfillment, purpose or

5:47

meaning. You want to figure out

5:49

what your purpose is, what the

5:51

meaning in your life is, and

5:54

you become aware all at once that

5:56

this fulfillment thing is real and that

5:58

you don't have it and

6:01

of course that you want it.

6:03

So you start asking yourself what

6:05

it means to be fulfilled. What

6:07

purpose is, what meaning is, and

6:10

you might explore many options for figuring

6:12

all this out. And by options, I

6:14

suppose I mean the ideas

6:16

that others are sharing with you because

6:19

they think those ideas are the key

6:21

to figuring it out because they say

6:23

it was key to them figuring it

6:25

out. And suddenly at the stage in

6:27

your life there's an appeal you never

6:29

really had for things like religion

6:31

or philosophy or ethical and moral

6:34

theories. And it tends to hit

6:36

us like a ton of bricks

6:38

and we're rarely prepared for it

6:40

because up to that point our

6:43

relationship with these sorts of things,

6:45

religion, philosophy, ethical and moral theories,

6:47

are probably pretty shallow and almost

6:50

certainly through the interpretation of other

6:52

people. We know our religion through

6:54

our parents frequently if we have

6:56

a religion. We know our morals

6:59

through our social authorities perhaps.

7:01

We know our philosophies through those

7:03

we look up to. But at

7:06

some point we realize whether we're

7:08

trying to or not that we

7:10

cannot continue approaching our understanding of

7:13

morality, ethics, meaning, purpose,

7:15

and many other things entirely

7:17

through the understandings of others.

7:19

Or perhaps better put,

7:22

we cannot understand our

7:24

religions, philosophies, morals, or

7:26

ethics until we understand

7:28

them as ourselves. It's

7:30

something like knowing a tree through

7:33

photographs you've seen or been shown

7:35

of it versus knowing that same

7:37

tree through touching it, climbing it,

7:40

and tending to it carefully. No

7:42

matter how many photos you've seen

7:44

of that tree from no matter

7:47

how many different angles, you cannot

7:49

know a tree through secondhand experience

7:52

and you cannot know yourself through

7:54

others. This is a

7:56

realization that comes when we're

7:58

a bit older because it takes

8:01

a number of years to

8:03

find a balance between conformity and

8:05

rebellion, to find a powerful sort

8:07

of bravery that enables us

8:09

to both overcome our youthful sense

8:12

of rebellion, while still resisting

8:14

the allure of being part of

8:16

some social in-group or political

8:18

in-group, to become truly indifferent to

8:21

what others think of us

8:23

is a necessary step towards, let's

8:25

call it, individual enlightenment, because becoming

8:27

so frees us from external reasons

8:30

for seeking meaning or purpose.

8:32

We cannot be genuinely seeking

8:34

meaning or purpose if we

8:36

are only doing so within

8:38

the context of a desire

8:40

to fit in with a

8:42

group or to be oppositional

8:44

to a group. We cannot

8:46

define our purpose through others

8:48

because that shrouds our purpose

8:50

in conformity. We can't define

8:52

our purpose through opposition to

8:55

others because that makes our

8:57

purpose rebellion. Conformity and rebellion

8:59

are not purposes, nor are

9:01

they meanings. Here's something

9:03

from Epictetus. It's from

9:05

chapter two of his discourses,

9:07

and it recounts a discussion

9:10

between florist and agrippinus. When

9:13

florist was deliberating whether he should

9:15

go down to Nero's spectacles and

9:17

also perform in them himself, agrippinus

9:20

said to him, go down. And

9:22

when florist asked agrippinus, why do

9:24

you not go down? Agrippinus replied,

9:26

because I do not even deliberate

9:29

about the matter for he who

9:31

has once brought himself to deliberate

9:33

about such matters and to calculate

9:35

the value of external things comes

9:38

very near to those who have

9:40

forgotten their own character. For why

9:42

do you ask me the question

9:44

whether death is preferable or life?

9:47

I say life, pain

9:49

or pleasure. I say pleasure.

9:51

But if I do not take part

9:54

in the tragic acting, I shall have

9:56

my head struck off. Go then and

9:58

take part. But I will not. Why?

10:02

Because you consider yourself to be only one

10:04

thread of those which are in a tunic.

10:07

Well then, it is fitting for you to

10:09

take care how you should be like the

10:11

rest of men, just as the thread has

10:13

no design to be anything superior to the

10:15

other threads. But I

10:17

wish to be purple, that small part

10:19

which is bright, and makes all the

10:22

rest appear graceful and beautiful.

10:25

When you look for your purpose in

10:27

life, for your meaning in life, you

10:30

must be doing it for yourself, and

10:32

in a context that is entirely yours.

10:34

It takes years to realize this, and

10:37

at least in my case years more

10:39

to internalize. Once it happens

10:41

though, you are ready for a

10:43

real exploration of purpose and meaning.

10:46

And whether or not you are ready today, I

10:48

am going to be outlining that exploration a bit

10:51

through the lens of Stoic philosophy, in the hopes

10:53

that it will help you to gain a bit

10:55

of insight for your own journey. Let's

11:06

start by trying to define what

11:08

purpose is exactly. Is it our

11:10

motivation? Is it the meaning

11:13

of our lives? Is it our goals?

11:15

Is it our driving force? The Stoics

11:17

believe that there was a way, a

11:19

just way, to be human, just as

11:21

there was a way to be a

11:23

bumblebee, or a bear, or a salmon.

11:26

Beings have a nature that is part

11:28

and parcel of what they are, and

11:31

they cannot help but to express this

11:33

nature. The complexity of human beings however,

11:35

makes our nature somewhat special,

11:37

or at least unique. We

11:40

do, just as the bear and

11:42

salmon, have a base nature, a

11:45

primal nature, you might say,

11:47

that all of us could

11:49

express without any effort whatsoever.

11:51

However, humans also have

11:53

a level of consciousness, awareness,

11:55

and sentience that other animals

11:58

seem not to have. a

12:01

higher concentration of logos resides

12:04

within us, again when

12:06

compared to non-human animals. And

12:08

this allows our nature to exist on

12:11

more of a spectrum than is the

12:13

case for other animals.

12:16

On the one end, a primal nature,

12:18

and on the other, an

12:20

evolved or completely actualized nature,

12:22

the baseline versus the pinnacle.

12:25

The Stoics didn't exactly word it like

12:27

this, but they did say that there

12:29

were three kinds of people, mad men

12:31

or mad women, prakaptan,

12:33

and sages. This

12:35

suggests a spectrum of natures because

12:37

any way a human being acts

12:39

is the nature of that human

12:42

being. It could not be otherwise.

12:44

We all act in accordance with

12:46

our nature. But the Stoics would

12:48

want us to strive towards that

12:50

pinnacle nature of a human being,

12:52

because from a contemporary perspective, and

12:55

this is me speaking, not the

12:57

ancient Stoics, the madman, due to

12:59

his having all the same cognitive

13:01

abilities as the sage, can

13:03

become a quite anti-nature thing

13:05

or unnatural thing. To the

13:07

Stoics to be in alignment

13:09

with nature was to be

13:11

in accord with it, was

13:13

to be part of a,

13:15

let's call it homeostatic flow

13:17

that was a boon to

13:19

nature, not a hindrance to

13:21

it. If one is fighting

13:23

one's fellow man, dumping crude

13:25

oil into the sea, plotting

13:27

against others, working to benefit

13:30

oneself at the expense of

13:32

others, one is not

13:34

in homeostatic flow with nature.

13:36

One is instead a

13:38

potential impediment to nature. This

13:41

is a fundamental concept of Stoicism,

13:43

that we are supposed to be

13:46

trying to become better for the

13:48

fake of the whole. This is

13:50

why Stoics were cosmopolitans, and unlike

13:53

the cynics, so committed to service

13:55

and involvement in their communities, and

13:57

the broader world, or cosmopolis. Stoics

14:00

believe that the most just way

14:02

to be a human is to

14:05

be a sage, and thus that

14:07

the most just activity for a

14:09

human to be working on or

14:12

to be undertaking is working towards

14:14

sagehood. So if you're a stoic,

14:16

your purpose isn't something you need

14:18

to figure out. You adopt it

14:21

the moment you apply the label

14:23

stoic to your person. Your purpose

14:25

as a stoic is to become

14:28

a sage, to attain virtue.

14:31

Virtue, as I have said

14:33

a million times at this

14:35

point, is the knowledge of

14:37

how to live excellently, which

14:39

means your purpose is to

14:41

acquire knowledge. And I find

14:43

this to be both romantic

14:45

and practical. Romantic because phylos

14:47

means love and sophia means

14:49

wisdom. Wisdom is knowledge and

14:52

so philosophy is the love

14:54

of the one true knowledge.

14:56

Virtue. It's practical because it

14:58

doesn't set out to preclude

15:00

anyone from participating, as

15:02

everyone can work towards becoming

15:04

a sage. That is, anyone

15:06

who is interested in discovering

15:08

how to live excellently. So

15:11

your purpose as a human being

15:13

who identifies also as a stoic

15:15

is to acquire the knowledge of

15:17

how to live excellently. That is

15:19

your purpose. And I would go

15:21

so far as to say that

15:23

it can be the only top

15:25

level purpose a human being can

15:27

have as it enables everything else.

15:29

The more you know about how

15:31

to live excellently, appropriately, like an

15:33

actualized human being, the fewer confusing

15:35

pathways you see in front of

15:37

you, replaced instead

15:39

by a singular and

15:41

clear path with legible

15:44

signposts at every crossroads.

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we now know our purpose. It is

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to acquire the knowledge of how to

18:24

live excellent lives. That means

18:26

we're always on the lookout for that knowledge,

18:28

bits and pieces of it. And

18:30

this enables an exciting new way

18:32

of seeing the world. I

18:34

asked earlier if our purpose is

18:37

our goals. We know

18:39

now that it isn't, at least

18:41

not as stomachs. However, with our

18:43

purpose, we can now look at

18:45

the idea of goals quite differently.

18:47

Virtue, knowledge gives us the ability

18:49

to know what goals are worth

18:52

setting. It also shows us the

18:54

appropriate path to achieving those goals.

18:56

I also asked if meaning was

18:58

our purpose. Again, we now know

19:00

it isn't. However, armed with the

19:02

knowledge of our purpose, we

19:05

can now more easily identify

19:07

what is contextually, appropriately meaningful

19:09

to us. As an example,

19:11

is our career meaningful to

19:13

us? And if so, to

19:15

what degree is it meaningful

19:18

to us? Before understanding that

19:20

our purpose was knowledge, we

19:22

might have mistaken our career for

19:25

our purpose in life. We may

19:27

have reduced our purpose to the

19:29

level of meaningful things. It means

19:31

something to us to do a

19:34

job We love. It means something

19:36

to us to provide for our family.

19:38

It means something to us to have

19:40

enough money to take a family vacation

19:43

every now and then. But If these

19:45

things become our purpose, then they usurp

19:47

our quest for virtue and they exert

19:50

a sort of control over us. We

19:52

Wind up fearing the loss of

19:54

our job, a loss of income, or

19:56

less food on the table. in. this

19:59

puts us. So quickly into

20:01

a state of mind were what

20:03

we're doing is entirely ignoring our

20:05

purpose and no longer standing tall

20:08

with purpose in mind. Instead we're

20:10

reacting to disruptions as if the

20:12

in different things which were being

20:15

disrupted were at the very core

20:17

of our human purpose. or to

20:19

say a different way. Imagine you're

20:22

a soldier tasked with winning a

20:24

battle. Your purpose in this example

20:26

is to win the battle. but

20:29

in combat. You sustain an injury

20:31

and used to have your fingers

20:33

on your left hand. Your purpose

20:36

for going into battle wasn't to

20:38

keep all your fingers, it was

20:40

to win the battle. So if

20:42

you decide to quit battling because

20:45

you've lost two fingers on your

20:47

left hand, you are d prioritizing

20:49

your purpose, replacing it with something

20:51

far less important and then forgetting

20:54

about it. This is why a

20:56

grip and this is not swayed

20:58

to participate in Nero's psychotic. Nonsense

21:00

because he understands that his life

21:02

is not to be prioritized over

21:04

his purpose. Now that doesn't mean

21:07

having your fingers cut off won't

21:09

hurt, or that she shouldn't care

21:11

about losing them, nor does it

21:13

mean you shouldn't care about losing

21:15

your job or your money or

21:17

not being able to feed your

21:19

family. But uncoupling these things from

21:21

your purpose helps you to see

21:23

such crises in a context that

21:26

is bigger than each of them

21:28

individually, or even all of them

21:30

collectively. If Akita says more about

21:32

us as we continue through chapter two

21:34

of his discourses, When. This pass

21:36

the incense and commanded to how various

21:38

not to go into the senate. He

21:41

replied it is in your power not

21:43

to allow me to be a member

21:45

of the senate but so long as

21:47

I am I must go in. Well

21:49

go in then says the emperor but

21:51

say nothing. Do. Not ask my opinion

21:53

and I will be silent but I must

21:55

ask your opinion and I must say when

21:57

I think is right. But if you do.

22:00

I should put you to death. And

22:02

when did I tell you that I

22:04

am immortal? You will do your part

22:06

and I will do mine is your

22:08

part to kill his mind to die

22:10

but not in fear yours to banish

22:12

me mind to depart without sorrow. Purpose.

22:15

Supersedes Outcomes. You don't abandon your

22:17

purpose because you lose a finger

22:19

Nord you abandon your purpose if

22:21

you lose your job or are

22:24

struggling to survive. Purpose is greater

22:26

than the moment, and in fact

22:28

it is what provides you with

22:30

the very armor and weaponry you

22:33

will require to survive the many

22:35

arduous task you choose to take

22:37

on in the name of desired

22:40

outcomes you provide for your family

22:42

because you've discovered in your pursuit.

22:44

Of knowledge that it is appropriate

22:46

for a mother or father to

22:49

provide for their family. You're not

22:51

providing for your family because you

22:53

love them though I hope you

22:55

do. You're providing for them because

22:58

thats what you've learned is becoming

23:00

have an excellent parents and excellence

23:02

human being. You're. No longer

23:04

doing things out of a desire to

23:07

help others. That's far too simple. And

23:09

that's a good thing because if your

23:11

desire to to help others, then the

23:13

value of your choice to help is

23:16

determined not by the fact that he

23:18

chose to help, the by the outcomes

23:20

of your help. Instead.

23:22

You're helping others because you've learned

23:25

that someone who is living an

23:27

excellent life should when they're capable

23:29

of doing so, and that involvement

23:31

is appropriate, do things which benefit

23:34

other people. It's not for social

23:36

media points or some corporate service

23:38

initiative. Rather, it is because doing

23:40

so is deeply rooted in your

23:43

purpose as a stoic. Once you've

23:45

acquired enough knowledge on your for

23:47

kept on pass, the liberty that

23:49

comes with this cannot be overstated.

23:52

When you're operating from a place

23:54

of purpose, you don't see as

23:56

many options or conditions and this

23:58

significantly reduce this choice related anxiety

24:00

as again the value of your

24:02

choice ceases to be about be

24:04

outcome and yet instead becomes about

24:06

the making of the choice in

24:08

the first place. This is why

24:11

Plus just doesn't care the he's

24:13

going to die if he speaks

24:15

his mind. if he speaks his

24:17

mind against the tire and he

24:19

is doing what is for him

24:21

excellent to do where he to

24:23

fear the outcome of speaking truth

24:25

to power he would be forced

24:27

to live less than excellently which

24:29

he cannot. Do as a man

24:31

of purpose, And. That's the other

24:34

thing Purpose does wants to is have

24:36

betrayed his and internalized. It prevents you

24:38

from making choices that are out of

24:40

alignment with it. The self

24:42

preserving difficulty that a child experiences

24:44

when trying to tell the truth

24:46

in the situation where they know

24:48

the truth will get them into

24:50

trouble is similar but the mirror

24:52

and opposite of the difficulty press

24:54

this was have felt were see

24:56

to try to convince himself not

24:58

to speak it would have felt

25:00

like doing damage to him. At

25:03

first it is hard to be jealous. But.

25:06

Then. After. A long enough

25:08

journey. It. Becomes hard to

25:10

be anything but just.

25:13

In summary, identifying your purpose in

25:15

life as the stoics is as

25:17

simple as me telling you your

25:20

purpose is to become an excellent

25:22

and just human being that set.

25:25

Truly embodying and living. map

25:27

purpose will take years, but

25:29

once you've made even a

25:32

little progress on that journey,

25:34

you will find it increasingly

25:36

difficult to be anything but

25:38

an increasingly Este version. you