Most of us live inside bubbles of reality shaped by our desires. We chase them with everything we have, believing that if we can just bring those desires into existence, we have achieved success. But here is the problem: desires live on a scale. They can be good or evil, right or wrong, fair or unfair. Even when we achieve them, the result often feels empty, disappointing, or even destructive.
Real satisfaction does not come from chasing desires alone. It comes when your desires are aligned with something bigger, a universal standard, a higher version of yourself.
As humans, we are all born with the ability to do certain things well. Life’s real purpose is to discover those abilities, your talents, skills, and passions, and then use them to contribute back to the people sharing the earth with you now, as well as those who will come after you. This contribution is what makes life meaningful.
We all carry that question deep inside: What am I good at? The challenge is not only discovering the answer but choosing which gifts to highlight in a way that serves others. When you find that thing, and you not only enjoy it but grow into mastery, it often brings material reward as well. More importantly, it creates fulfillment. At that point, you are not just chasing desire, you are living out your life’s task.
So why is this better than just chasing desires?
When you live by desire alone, you are moved by impulse and temptation. There is no calculated entry, no planned exit, only motion. You drift through time, letting temptation take the wheel, while your energy, money, health, and focus leak away. Desire-led living may feel like freedom, but it is really a slow dance with waste.
When you become goal oriented, something shifts. Your goals and your life task begin to align with your desires. You gain control. Instead of wasting resources, you are directing them. Instead of drifting, you are building.
I have been thinking about this more deeply because of a book I have been reading, The Courage to Be Disliked. It explores the work of Alfred Adler, often called the “third giant” of modern psychology alongside Freud and Jung. Adler’s perspective helps explain why so many of us struggle with desire.
Here is the key: some people live as if their lives are controlled by cause and effect. They believe, “Something happened to me in the past, so this is who I am now. I cannot change it.” Others live with a goal-oriented mindset. They see the past as an event, but one they have interpreted and attached a goal to.
For example, let us say you were bullied when you were young. The cause and effect mindset says, Because of that trauma, I cannot trust people. That is just who I am now. The goal-oriented mindset says, Because of that event, I set a goal to protect myself, maybe by avoiding people or by acting tough. My behavior is not dictated by the past, it is directed by the goal I set in response to it.
The difference is subtle but life changing. When you realize your past does not control you and your goals do, you step into freedom.
That is where life’s task comes back in. If your goals are built only around desire, you will still end up wasting your resources. But if your goals are rooted in your life’s task, contributing through your talents, skills, and passions, then your desires begin to align with purpose. That is where fulfillment lives.
So here is the real challenge: stop living only by desire. Stop letting impulse and temptation build a bubble of reality that goes nowhere. Instead, align your desires with your life’s task. Put your resources, time, energy, health, and money, into goals that serve a higher version of yourself and a greater contribution to the people around you.
That is where true success is found.
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