What if everyone was living their purpose? Could the world still function?

[cpalmer]

Okay, so like many people here I'm at a stage in my life where I'm focused on finding and living my true purpose. I've decided I'm not going to settle for doing anything less with my life than what I love to do and find completely inspiring, and I will never be content as long as I'm working as a wage slave.

My ideal lifestyle will certainly involve some sort of internet based business(es) that would allow me to generate value for people and receive multiple streams of passive income while retaining complete time freedom and choice in where I live.

All that sounds great, but when I really start thinking more about this, some serious internal conflicts start arising for me - and I'm actually very surprised the point I'm about to make hasn't been mentioned on this site or in any other content out there relating to financial freedom and internet businesses.

Sure, that kind of lifestyle would be great, and it would be awesome if everyone could live out their dreams without having to worry about the day to day drudgeries of working to support oneself, but, here's the catch:

This kind of lifestyle can only work in a system where we are able to pay others to provide our basic needs and do work for us that we do not want to do. In other words, SOMEONE still has to do it.

Let's say you make $10,000 a month as a professional blogger or the owner of an internet business - a goal many of us would be absolutely ecstatic to attain. You rely on literally hundreds if not thousands of people to hold up the systems that allow your business to function and allow you to live on the money you make. Think about it...

- Farmers to grow produce, grains, and raise/butcher animals for food

- Truck drivers to transport it to the processing facilities, the supermarket, etc. and all the various people employed along the way

- Construction workers to build your home, build the supermarket where you bought your food, not to mention the workers and infrastructure that produce and deliver the materials used in the construction of those buildings

- Coal miners to mine coal which is carried to a power generation plant by train which delivers power over the electrical grid to the various pieces of equipment which make up the infrastructure of the Internet and the servers your website is hosted on, as well as all the PC's used by your readers to view your website

- Network engineers and technicians to provide and maintain the electrical infrastructure. Miners and smelter workers to extract and refine copper ore to produce wiring.

- Oil drillers, refinery workers, mechanics, and auto manufacturing workers to produce the vehicles and their fuel used to transport workers around to service the infrastructure we depend on and to transport the goods we use

- City workers to build and maintain the roads which carry those vehicles, people and goods

- Oil drillers and refinery workers once again, to produce raw materials for the plastics and other materials which go into manufacturing wiring, computers, and network equipment

This could go on for pages and pages, but... I'm sure most people on this forum are intelligent and can extrapolate the rest for themselves by thinking on it for a bit.

Bottom line.... like it or not, there are a lot of jobs ranging from mundane to downright dangerous and crappy that need to be done before ANYONE can enjoy the kind of financial freedom made possible by an internet based business - the kind of financial freedom people hope to attain by freeing themselves from exactly those kinds of jobs, in many cases.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think there is ANYTHING wrong with doing this type of work, and I am certainly not criticizing Steve Pavlina or anyone else who makes their living this way as long as their work is making a genuine contribution to improve the lot of humanity as a whole. In fact, I firmly believe this kind of work is necessary to wake people up so we can move forward towards a sustainable and prosperous future for ALL inhabitants of this planet.

I'm merely pointing out that we all need to look well beyond the problem of 'escaping the 9-5 working existence' and becoming so-called 'free human beings', and realize that even when you manage to attain that position, there are still thousands of people in the bigger picture who will need to continue working jobs so we can enjoy that life, and at the very least we need to be aware of and profoundly thankful for it.

I'd love to hear everyone else's opinions and thoughts about this!! Anyone else out there overthought this problem as much as I have? lol!

[supertom]

remember medium vs message, our mediums will be different much different, also the path of purpose is one of service.

[Cran]

I don't think that it is everybody's purpose and goal to make an internet-based or passive income, even if the main tenor here is "x reasons to never get a job".

My job-goal is definitely NOT to achieve success with a blog or interet business, but involves teaching.

Likewise, there are people who enjoy hard, bodily work (and I've known such work, it does bring a kind of fullfilment) who would, for example, choose to be a farmer above other options.
Others would think jobs as not important, as long as they pay enough for a basic lifestyle, and pursue other goals (enlightment, perhaps ).

But such people do usually not frequent this forum. I think this forum is quite homogen concerning the wants and goals of its users, so it gives no clear picture to judge what would happen if "everybody" got his way, job-wise.

[lifetimelearner]

I asked a friend once why he worked two jobs
which equaled out to about 64-72 hours a week

he said he wanted to be able to quit one job in a few years and just work one

I said why not work just one job-
he said "what would I do in my time off "

geez I could think of a zillion things


other people say they work at jobs they dislike because it is the RESPONSIBLE thing to do

I was one of them

my whole family is the same way -it was our upbringing that you must go to work and work and work until you retire or die

[funchy]

Originally Posted by cpalmer

My ideal lifestyle will certainly involve some sort of internet based business(es) that would allow me to generate value for people and receive multiple streams of passive income while retaining complete time freedom and choice in where I live

You've overlooked one thing: what makes you happy doesn't make other people happy. Not everyone feels their purpose in life is to set up a web business.

I have a friend who is a farmer. He quit a decent paying truck/delivery job to do this. He works in all weather. And you know what... he LOVES his job. He has no commute, no boss, and no dealing with rude customers. He sets his own hours. He has the money he needs to buy what he wants. You couldn't pay him enough to sit down at a computer.

Let's say you make $10,000 a month as a professional blogger or the owner of an internet business - a goal many of us would be absolutely ecstatic to attain. You rely on literally hundreds if not thousands of people to hold up the systems that allow your business to function and allow you to live on the money you make. Think about it...

And there are doctors, executives, and lawyers out there making three times that. And they may be looking down on you for making only a few thousand a month. (it's all relative to your perspective!)

There are people out there making a fraction of that who don't have a huge drive for material goods. They earn enough to buy a home, health care, food, and other essentials. The don't look forward to cash bonuses, they look forward to family reunions or finishing a hobby project.

Why do you need $120,000 a year? Will having a luxury car or big house really buy happiness?

Bottom line.... like it or not, there are a lot of jobs ranging from mundane to downright dangerous and crappy that need to be done before ANYONE can enjoy the kind of financial freedom made possible by an internet based business....

And there are guys like Bill Gates who love to sell you the computers and software you need to do your blogging. Would Bill Gates want your job or would he call it "crappy" ? (again it's about perspective)

I'm merely pointing out that we all need to look well beyond the problem of 'escaping the 9-5 working existence' and becoming so-called 'free human beings', and realize that even when you manage to attain that position, there are still thousands of people in the bigger picture who will need to continue working jobs so we can enjoy that life, and at the very least we need to be aware of and profoundly thankful for it.

But not everyone is slaving a mundane 9-5 existence. You're still assuming everyone wants/needs the same thing as you.

- Mundane doesn't mean 40 hours a week; to me mundane means the person isn't living their passion.

- "9-5" doesn't necessarily require an escape. Some people love their 40-hour-workweek jobs.

- Can't one be a "free" human being and find their passion, then integrate it into a job?

- Why is success measured only by size of paycheck?


Not saying an internet job is bad, if that's what you want to do. But we all have our own goals and priorities.

[Elrond]

Yes, everybodies true and heartfelt purpose is to start an online business and do blogging, lol.

[Marth]

Our current society would collapse if people were not oppressed & blind.

[SomeRandomGuy]

I think the OP brings up a very good point. If everyone were was living their purpose how many janitors and garbage men would we have? The fact is, society relies on thousands of people performing jobs that most of them would rather not be doing.

It is true that not everyone's purpose is to become a blogger or run an internet business. The same things still apply, however, to doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc. I think that if everyone in our society was able to determine their true purpose, and do only that, our society would crumble.

[ChaosKiwi]

An interesting line of thought that I have also entertained in the past.

Suppose there was no one to collect the garbage and it began building up. Either someone is going to passionately swoop in and make it there life's work to clean up that garbage, or an alternative way of disposing garbage would be created by someone due to the demand for it.

Believe it or not there are people out there who absolutely love the jobs you or I wouldn't touch with a ten foot barge pole (being a barge polist, for example ). Otherwise there are people passionate about creating and delivering new ways of doing things if the demand exists.

Certainly there are people out there who are miserable in jobs that support you directly or indirectly. It would be blind to overlook that. Use it to your advantage. Think "these people suffer so I can do my job so I must do the best job I can.

The fact that you think about these people at all may suggest you would be a good person to liberate these unhappy people. Could you be passionate about it?

[artandstuff]

I think about this all the time lately. I'm passionate about creating art. But then I wonder, what is better for society? Being an artist or being a dishwasher? I wonder if "it's fair" for me to be an artist when so many people have so many needs. I know art can raise awareness, I'm not saying it's useless, but my mind does run around in circles sometimes.

I like to think that maybe part of the answer is that maybe the "drudgier" jobs wouldn't be so bad if people could do them for shorter periods of time and/or make more money when doing them. Not all societies promote the idea of working for 40-60 hours a week, 11.5 months a year.

I keep trying to build the perfect village in a parallel universe in my mind. So far I imagine that there would be less or no MEGAcompanies. Businesses run on a smaller scale could be more accountable to their communities. And maybe people could share jobs more... sort of a mix and match deal... maybe a bit of mining in the morning with the rest of the day dedicated to making art. Something like that.

I don't know what the answer is... but my mind keeps bugging me, "It's only okay to make art all day if it's okay for everyone to make art all day."

[openyourize]

i think not everyone believes they have a purpose. a lot of people just want to live their little lives as an average everyday joe. my mom is like that. in the past i have tried to encourage her to tap into her inner power and find herself and what not, but she doesnt really care to. my mom is nice kind funny simple and average. she makes an alright living and she is satisfied. she doesnt hunger for more in life, she doesnt strive to find purpose or meaning, she is happy just the way things are in her life and that is fine.

there are also people, and i have seen some on this board, who feel their purpose is to do things like take out garbage and drive trucks. thats fine too. when you really think about it, people only see those jobs as negative because we judge them. i can very easily see how someone can search for their purpose and decide to be a garbage person and find it spiritually uplifting. it takes a really different perspective though.

[Savage]

If Everyone Awakens Will We All Starve?

[cpalmer]

Wow, thank you everyone for some very insightful responses! The article "If Everyone Awakens, Will We Starve?" had some great points to make too, I thought.

Here's another interesting question to pose... if we as the human race were somehow able to take all our collective resources, technology, skills, and knowledge and intelligently apply them to meeting everyone's basic needs (shelter, food, water, clothing etc), how much would any one of us have to work to maintain a very comfortable standard of living?

Its really quite amazing how much potential in this world is just pissed away in pursuit of money and power for their own sake - if these resources were shared and used in a more equitable and intelligent manner, especially with the use of modern technology, I don't think anyone would have to work more than a few hours a week to meet their basic needs. Beyond that, people would be free to pursue their own interests, purposes, and passions.

Artandstuff - check out Findhorn Foundation: Spiritual Community, Ecovillage and Education Centre, I think you might find it interesting. I'm not personally affiliated with them, but I ran across their website a while ago and I was very intrigued by some of the stuff they're doing - very much along the lines of what you're talking about with building small, self sufficient communities with local business etc.

[CroMagna]

Capitalism is not a zero-sum game. The world could still function even if there weren't blue collar jobs. They would just get replaced by machines. For example operators are being replaced by those pesky Automated Systems and cashiers are being replaced by those lovable Self Checkouts.

This in turn creates new jobs, including the job of engineering those machines or being a consultant.

[Brutha]

All that sounds great, but when I really start thinking more about this, some serious internal conflicts start arising for me - and I'm actually very surprised the point I'm about to make hasn't been mentioned on this site or in any other content out there relating to financial freedom and internet businesses.

Sure, that kind of lifestyle would be great, and it would be awesome if everyone could live out their dreams without having to worry about the day to day drudgeries of working to support oneself, but, here's the catch:

I don't think that that statement says anything about your purpose in life.

[sbdiane]

Originally Posted by cpalmer

You rely on literally hundreds if not thousands of people to hold up the systems that allow your business to function and allow you to live on the money you make. Think about it...

- Farmers to grow produce, grains, and raise/butcher animals for food

- Truck drivers to transport it to the processing facilities, the supermarket, etc. and all the various people employed along the way

- Construction workers to build your home, build the supermarket where you bought your food, not to mention the workers and infrastructure that produce and deliver the materials used in the construction of those buildings

- Coal miners to mine coal which is carried to a power generation plant by train which delivers power over the electrical grid to the various pieces of equipment which make up the infrastructure of the Internet and the servers your website is hosted on, as well as all the PC's used by your readers to view your website

- Network engineers and technicians to provide and maintain the electrical infrastructure. Miners and smelter workers to extract and refine copper ore to produce wiring.

- Oil drillers, refinery workers, mechanics, and auto manufacturing workers to produce the vehicles and their fuel used to transport workers around to service the infrastructure we depend on and to transport the goods we use

- City workers to build and maintain the roads which carry those vehicles, people and goods

- Oil drillers and refinery workers once again, to produce raw materials for the plastics and other materials which go into manufacturing wiring, computers, and network equipment

If you are a wage slave at some job you're still dependent upon all these things. It makes no difference if you are blogging your way to money or working for the man.

If you really want to be free of this, plant a garden, install solar panels, ride a bicycle, participate in your neighborhood foodshed and freecycle, learn how to fix your own things, buy and eat local, and become a more frugal person in the overall economy.

[Marth]

I'm just saying current society wouldn't function. There are a lot of companies that are fear, status based or whatever else that leads to oppression, blindness, that are necessary for our current society. If we were all living our dreams, society could work, but it'd be a lot different.

[Eric Revelin]

Originally Posted by Marth

Our current society would collapse if people were not oppressed & blind.

Then let it burn.

[pyrogen]

You're assuming that everyone's purpose is to earn passive income.

There are plenty of people whose purpose is just to do "good honest work" as some people call it. Some people enjoy seeing things being built of their own hands, and enjoy being in the sunshine doing a job that keeps them physically fit while they do it.

And some of the worst/most dangerous of that work - such as being a miner - will eventually be obsolete.

There are people who have the options and choose what seems to most to be a working class profession. I met a wealthy woman in her 50s who up and chose to be a long distance trucker.
There's also that 50+ guy who decided to work at Starbucks and it is his life work. He enjoys his work.

If my partner could do any profession he wanted, in this day and age, he'd be a *shepherd*.

Freed from wage slavery, would people choose to dig ditches? Some think MORE people would.

Ursula LeGuin's book "The Dispossessed" talks about an engineered utopia, she addressed this very problem... the theory posed in the book was that once freed from "wage slavery" most people wouldn't mind signing up to do the necessary manual labor/maintenance tasks for a few hours a week. Since everyone was expected to contribute this (and this came via peer pressure, not government enforcement), no one person had to make it their life work UNLESS THEY WANTED TO (and there were plenty that wanted to).

Mind you, the society also was not a capitalist one, and had its own issues, but I'm just saying that there is other thinking out there about who could do the "♥♥♥♥♥ work" of civilization.

[bluedragon]

I would like to be a farmer
Especially if all the people I would be selling to were personal development bloggers or seekers. I could be the old wise farmer who knows the wisdom of the land and listens to the trees.
In a world full of interesting people - in other words, an interesting world - I can see ANY social position as very interesting. Everyone would have the possibility to do something interesting if he wanted, or to do what he was already doing in a more interesting way - take it to the next level, while still doing basically the same thing.
But why is a world of conscious people equivalent to a dream world?

[wolfgang]

What if people's purpose is exactly what they are doing right now? Even if they don't like it and think there's something better they could be doing? What if everyone's purpose is to accept and surrender to where they ended up instead of ditching their job because of some ideas on a web site? What if someone's purpose is to be stuck in a job they judge and hate but still keep doing it? That could be someone's purpose. I know it's not what Steve wrote about. Find our true calling, etc... Sure look for cooler possibilities - but I think some people's purpose ends up being just what they are doing which might be a societal function - and whether they judge it or not is also part of their purpose.

[bluedragon]

What if people's purpose is exactly what they are doing right now? Even if they don't like it and think there's something better they could be doing? What if everyone's purpose is to accept and surrender to where they ended up instead of ditching their job because of some ideas on a web site? What if someone's purpose is to be stuck in a job they judge and hate but still keep doing it? That could be someone's purpose. I know it's not what Steve wrote about. Find our true calling, etc... Sure look for cooler possibilities - but I think some people's purpose ends up being just what they are doing which might be a societal function - and whether they judge it or not is also part of their purpose.

A friend of mine told me something like this too. I don't know why some people consider personal development not good for everyone. It's not about achieving someone else's goals, but your own - whatever you want.
As I said - I could like to be a farmer - but a farmer with purpose.
I believe we are all part of a greater whole - the Universe, the Tao, God, the Force - and this force wants to grow, or it wants each of us to grow and identify with it eventually, which means Enlightenment. The Universe has split itself into so many parts just for the theater of it all, not for its bits (which are us humans) to remain for ever engaged in this game we take much to serious, which is life - especially this modern, complicated one with jobs and conspiracies and insecurity.
I once found an amazing explanation (that confirmed my thoughts) in a book on Yoga (which is a "science" designed to speed up and enhance the Enlightenment process) but I'm not going to reproduce it here since not everybody believes this "stuff".

[magi13]

It'd probably remain the same.

A purpose does not have to be something positive or to have no purpose is also a purpose.

^,^

[wolfgang]

Originally Posted by bluedragon

I once found an amazing explanation (that confirmed my thoughts) in a book on Yoga (which is a "science" designed to speed up and enhance the Enlightenment process) but I'm not going to reproduce it here since not everybody believes this "stuff".

I would be interested in such material. Even though I post like I do.

[openyourize]

yes, automation, as in steves article.

but then, what will the rest of us do for money?

i think the idea people of the world will be rewarded with money. new things will have to happen. espcially considering the current global economy and climate situation. we need fresh new ideas and concepts. the people need to be pointed in a different direction and new leaders and REAL idea people need to direct them. once that begins, who knows what will happen? we live in a very exciting and changing time and we are fortunate to be a part of this.

[rak]

Nice question

I also ask this to my self before.

I believe that when we say "living your purpose" it doesent only mean you are doing
some super extra ordinary job or you must go out there and be a great speaker, coach or writer like Steve Pavlina, Brian kim, Wayne Dyer or Anthony Robbins.

Its all up to you what you want to do in life. Some people find their certainty in being a farmer, fire man, sales man or doctor and some people make their own career path.

I think the major issue today is that most people are not that highly aware on what their doing. Yes they know they are working as a clerk or as a waiter in the same time and most of employee today focus for money and theres nothing wrong about that, everybody needs it but if we will going to do this for a long run and become irresponsible to truly satisfy our formless needs this will be the beginning of the problem.

Many people feel victimize because they stay to the job they dont want, work half-heartedly, low-trust to each other and there are many things to mention about and the effect to the whole... will be poor quality.

Thats why I am bit inspired and hopeful that people like Steve, Wayne, Tony, Brian and people in this forum will be the catalyst of changes and continue the unfinished buisness of our great heroes and sages in our past century.

[lemuria]

Originally Posted by rak

Many people feel victimize because they stay to the job they dont want, work half-heartedly, low-trust to each other and there are many things to mention about and the effect to the whole... will be poor quality.

in machiavelli's eyes, there no such thing as victims. they willingly do the jobs because of the illusions of security. some people are just too lazy.

anyway, i think the world will still function. of course we need moar advanced machines and stuff like those

[rak]

Originally Posted by lemuria

in machiavelli's eyes, there no such thing as victims.

yap thats why they feel they are

[RT Wolf]

cpalmer, there's a coupla things there:

The first is the issues you have brought up and othres have talked about them. You can find my posts on the issues here:

What if Everyone Followed Their Dreams? There’d be no garbage pickers! | Mind-Manual

Why “What if Everyone Did That?” Isn’t an Argument | Mind-Manual

Beyond that, I'm more interested in why you're asking that question (just like you are). I agree with some of your points. For example, I recall reading that there's enough food produced in the world today that everyone can be comfortably fed and no one would starve. And I believe that if enough people do "awaken", we can move towards that world more. We may even decide to have fewer kids, as that's basically the main problem causing most of the others.

I agree with your idea of appreciation of those who make our lifestyles possible. That said, you sound like you feel a bit guilty about that. It sounds like you feel a bit "guilty" for even thinking of doing this while others work in "drudgery". I can only posit that there may be two reasons for this:

1. You believe life is supposed to be hard and you're cheating by having an "easy" life, especially when others around you are saying their lives are so hard. For all our beliefs and efforts in egalitarianism, life is still "unfair" (life is life, unfair/fair is labels our consciousness applies). You can make it your life's mission to fix this unfairness if you'd like, but I wouldn't feel guilty about it. Basically, "life" is a bit like a game and has some rules and if you "break" one of them, you'll feel guilty.

2. Everybody "should" be able to enjoy the same sort of things. This may be some sort of belief in universalisation. That you "should" do what you would recommend to everyone.

I hope some of this resonates with you and helps you to understand yourself better. If not, reply back and I may be able to come up with more ideas.