learning is the closest thing i have found to purpose.
for a long time i believed there had to be a moment where everything suddenly made sense. a clear answer. a direction. something that would make me feel like i had “found it.” after years of trying to figure that out, i realized something much simpler: there is no quick fix for purpose.
for me, purpose has shown up through learning.
over the past six years i have spent a lot of time trying to understand myself and what actually fulfills me. not in a dramatic way, just through small habits. reading books. listening to podcasts. having long conversations. paying attention to what keeps my curiosity alive. eventually i noticed a pattern. the moments i feel the most energized and the most like myself are when i am learning something new.
sometimes that learning is practical. learning how to be a better sister. learning how to listen more carefully to people. learning how to show up for the people around me.
other times it’s pure curiosity. i can spend hours listening to podcasts about things that have nothing to do with my daily life. energy systems. data centers. artificial intelligence. construction. interior design. cooking. even topics like quantum physics or quantum entanglement. none of these subjects are things i formally studied, but the act of learning about them expands the way i see the world.
i probably spend hundreds of hours a year listening to conversations and ideas from people who know far more than i do. some people might see that as a guilty pleasure. for me it feels like fuel.
what i’ve also realized is that learning rarely happens alone. my friends and my family have played a huge role in shaping who i am. they are the people who challenge my thinking, support my ideas, and keep me grounded. without those conversations and relationships, i don’t think i would have developed the same discipline or drive.
in school i was never the person with perfect grades. i did enough to get by, but i was not the top student. what i’m proud of now isn’t that i read things or heard ideas. it’s that i started applying them. a book or a podcast means very little if it stays theoretical. the real value comes when you try to use what you learned in real life.
that might be applying something you read about communication in a conversation with a friend. or using a concept from design when you’re thinking about a space. or understanding a system well enough to see opportunities that other people miss.
life moves quickly, and it’s easy to get caught up in routines that leave little room for curiosity. but when you strip things down to basics, humans naturally crave a few things: conversation, discovery, interaction, and growth. those things are deeply connected to learning.
without learning, conversations stay shallow. ideas stop forming. opportunities become harder to recognize.
if i could tell my younger self one thing, it would be this: stay close to whatever fascinates you. curiosity is one of the few things that can’t really be taken away from you. it keeps life interesting and keeps your mind open to possibilities you didn’t expect.
there are still countless subjects i want to understand better, and i hope that list never stops growing.
so my advice is simple. talk to people about the things that genuinely interest you. ask questions. read books. listen to long conversations. follow your curiosity wherever it goes.
you might not find a single clear answer about your purpose. but along the way, you may discover that the process of learning itself is the thing that keeps moving you forward.
learning is the closest thing to purpose
learning is the closest thing i have found to purpose.
for a long time i believed there had to be a moment where everything suddenly made sense. a clear answer. a direction. something that would make me feel like i had “found it.” after years of trying to figure that out, i realized something much simpler: there is no quick fix for purpose.
for me, purpose has shown up through learning.
over the past six years i have spent a lot of time trying to understand myself and what actually fulfills me. not in a dramatic way, just through small habits. reading books. listening to podcasts. having long conversations. paying attention to what keeps my curiosity alive. eventually i noticed a pattern. the moments i feel the most energized and the most like myself are when i am learning something new.
sometimes that learning is practical. learning how to be a better sister. learning how to listen more carefully to people. learning how to show up for the people around me.
other times it’s pure curiosity. i can spend hours listening to podcasts about things that have nothing to do with my daily life. energy systems. data centers. artificial intelligence. construction. interior design. cooking. even topics like quantum physics or quantum entanglement. none of these subjects are things i formally studied, but the act of learning about them expands the way i see the world.
i probably spend hundreds of hours a year listening to conversations and ideas from people who know far more than i do. some people might see that as a guilty pleasure. for me it feels like fuel.
what i’ve also realized is that learning rarely happens alone. my friends and my family have played a huge role in shaping who i am. they are the people who challenge my thinking, support my ideas, and keep me grounded. without those conversations and relationships, i don’t think i would have developed the same discipline or drive.
in school i was never the person with perfect grades. i did enough to get by, but i was not the top student. what i’m proud of now isn’t that i read things or heard ideas. it’s that i started applying them. a book or a podcast means very little if it stays theoretical. the real value comes when you try to use what you learned in real life.
that might be applying something you read about communication in a conversation with a friend. or using a concept from design when you’re thinking about a space. or understanding a system well enough to see opportunities that other people miss.
life moves quickly, and it’s easy to get caught up in routines that leave little room for curiosity. but when you strip things down to basics, humans naturally crave a few things: conversation, discovery, interaction, and growth. those things are deeply connected to learning.
without learning, conversations stay shallow. ideas stop forming. opportunities become harder to recognize.
if i could tell my younger self one thing, it would be this: stay close to whatever fascinates you. curiosity is one of the few things that can’t really be taken away from you. it keeps life interesting and keeps your mind open to possibilities you didn’t expect.
there are still countless subjects i want to understand better, and i hope that list never stops growing.
so my advice is simple. talk to people about the things that genuinely interest you. ask questions. read books. listen to long conversations. follow your curiosity wherever it goes.
you might not find a single clear answer about your purpose. but along the way, you may discover that the process of learning itself is the thing that keeps moving you forward.