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Ask HN: I implemented the life I designed: perfect but I feel lost. What now?

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Re: Ask HN: I implemented the life I designed: perfect but I feel lost. What now?

#141

Post by exanimo_sai »

adv0r wrote: post #50
cheschire wrote: post #12

Once you’ve conquered Maslow’s original hierarchy of needs, dig into his final need that he added later in life. Achieve not for yourself but for your community or your world. Transcend the self, and feel that higher order need. As another commenter mentioned, altruistic endeavors are a good choice. Even things like being a Boy Scout leader can be hugely fulfilling of that broader need.

Where do I start? What's the first baby step? I googled "Volunteering opportunities" many times without success so far ;)

Hey - just my two cents. You seem like someone of means (intellectual and financial). Volunteering and charity can be personally fulfilling but systemised charity is ineffective. Use your skillset and networks to resolve something from the root. Financial inequality is the root of most social ills - is there something you can do in micro-financing? Something in upskilling/education or employment?

Good luck! I feel you will hit upon something worth while.

Re: Ask HN: I implemented the life I designed: perfect but I feel lost. What now?

#142

Post by _nalply »

Go for a pilgrimage, especially the Way of St. James in Spain. Start near Lyons in France and plan 3 months of your life. Let your friends and family accompany you for a week on some stretches of the way, but insist on walking alone for at least two weeks.

This way you will find your answer.

Re: Ask HN: I implemented the life I designed: perfect but I feel lost. What now?

#143

Post by mam2 »

Have you implemented what you wanted or what you thought you wanted but society told you was "good".

Sometimes in life its nice to have a bit of nihilism and purposefully let stuff go or be imperfect.

If nothing else work you could also try ayahuasca, lsd, or simply MDMA.

Re: Ask HN: I implemented the life I designed: perfect but I feel lost. What now?

#144

Post by bouk »

mam2 wrote: post #143

Have you implemented what you wanted or what you thought you wanted but society told you was "good". Sometimes in life its nice to have a bit of nihilism and purposefully let stuff go or be imperfect. If nothing else work you could also try ayahuasca, lsd, or simply MDMA.

I would suggest seeing a therapist before self-medicating.

Re: Ask HN: I implemented the life I designed: perfect but I feel lost. What now?

#145

Post by cmonnow »

Religion.

Particularly, Hinduism has its highest corpus of philosophy devoted to the question - What next ?

In fact, that is literally the question the treatise starts with 'After enjoying all material desires, what next ? let's start with God'

Re: Ask HN: I implemented the life I designed: perfect but I feel lost. What now?

#146

Post by bsldld »

The best thing according to me is to see smile on other people's faces. Atleast on those people's faces who have lost all hope.

If I was in your position, I would concentrate on two things. Doing something to provide free(or atleast affordable) best quality

- education to everyone, especially under priviledged kids e.g. from poor families and orphans.

- healthcare to poor people.

Atleast do these two things and the world will be a far better place.

Take a break from your comfortable life and go travel to places like asia, africa and south america and you will find your calling.

Here is some advice from a well know person: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYfNvmF0Bqw

Edit: typo

Re: Ask HN: I implemented the life I designed: perfect but I feel lost. What now?

#147

Post by throwaway0608 »

I was not that successful but I've reached to a point that I thought I could do anything if I had enough time and I started feeling boring. And then, it's always come to my mind the question "what's the point of this life?". Then I started to seek for something more "meaningful". Something more spiritual, and one day I found "Falun Gong", it's kind of practice that teach you how the world works in a very special way, the meaning of life, why we need to be a good person, ... it maybe not for everyone but I think you should give it a try. There are some free book online, you could start here: https://en.falundafa.org/eng/zfl_2018.html

PS: I am not a native speaker of English.

Re: Ask HN: I implemented the life I designed: perfect but I feel lost. What now?

#148

Post by oriolgg »

adv0r wrote: post #75
wikibob wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What city do you live in? In San Francisco or Seattle, Google "soup kitchen volunteer {city}". Low commitment, no special skills required. Go try it. Talk to the other people there. Ask where else they volunteer. You can literally google this today and help this week. Are you following Black Lives Matter? Get involved at the local level. Research your police department and social services funding for your city. Reall…

Barcelona. I will try to follow your advice locally. There is no shortage of social emergencies in southern Europe.

I'm also from Barcelona, and while I consider myself fortunate and relatively successful, I'm still far from the point you currently are.

However, I have experienced doing social projects purely for meaning during few months between opportunities. The most fulfilling one was setting up a mentoring program in high school, where I went through a set of sessions with a small group of ambitious young students. Not technical mentoring, more like practical general life advice delivered in a workshop manner, as if I was an older friend. They all enjoyed it a lot, and to this day, few years later, we still stay in touch and I'm very happy to see how much they have grown since then.

From my experience being born here, there is a strong pull from society to conform and stay mediocre. I want to change that, and help those ambitious to create their own path.

Unfortunately, working at a startup I don't have time for that currently. But I will definitely get back to something like this once I'm financially independent.

If you would like to discuss more, email is in my profile.

Re: Ask HN: I implemented the life I designed: perfect but I feel lost. What now?

#149

Post by ancymon »

exanimo_sai wrote: post #141
adv0r wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where do I start? What's the first baby step? I googled "Volunteering opportunities" many times without success so far ;)

Hey - just my two cents. You seem like someone of means (intellectual and financial). Volunteering and charity can be personally fulfilling but systemised charity is ineffective. Use your skillset and networks to resolve something from the root. Financial inequality is the root of most social ills - is there something you can do in micro-financing? Something in upskilling/education or employment? Good luck! I feel yo…

The whole point of this thread is about doing something personally fulfilling. I think throwing money at some cause is not the way to get there.

Re: Ask HN: I implemented the life I designed: perfect but I feel lost. What now?

#150

Post by throwaway39420 »

blisterpeanuts wrote: post #13

When I was older than you, I left technology to try for medical school. After several years of studies, some of it absolutely brutal, I had to go back to technology; my brain is just not wired to memorize large amounts of information as required to pass med school exams. It was a fascinating detour and I was fortunate that I had the tech skills to get back into technology, though my dreams of becoming a doctor had co…

30 years old here and starting the prereqs for RN next week part-time (online). I figured at this age I don't have the time or mental acuity to be a MD. My first class being A&P should be a tell-tale sign of whether this experiment will go well.
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