Do you have a life vision? Or are you still trying to figure it out? You do not immediately have a life purpose out of the blue moon, you know.
It requires hard work, discipline and a willingness to try new things. But once you have your mission, it is a powerful feeling.
I recently found my life purpose.
Results?
I feel more locked in than ever.
However, it was not always like that. I may have a vision for my future now, sure. But that vision was crafted after years of being lost, years of being broken and years of being confused.
Before I was able to become the person that I am today, there were a lot of dues that needed to be paid. I needed to feel true pain from inside and out.
But that pain was a gift all along.
The same Phoenix that burned apart was the same Phoenix that rose. All those years of trials and tribulations were necessary. Why? Because those years have led me to this exact moment.
My personal journey has allowed me to learn a lot about life and make a lot of new discoveries along the way. My most unique discovery? The Five Superpowers.
The superpowers are five mighty soft skills. These five skills have allowed me to completely change my personality and become a better version of myself.
The knowledge of these skills turned me from a quiet little boy to the artistic engineer.
In my world, these skills are life changing. I want to share how my journey led me to discovering the five powers of:
- Public Speaking
- Storytelling
- Creativity
- Social Dynamics
- Emotional Intelligence
Hopefully a person who is feeling aimless in life will understand that dark moments are not an end-all be-all. Believe it or not, each dark moment is crucial for ultimately discovering your vision.
Here is how I discovered mine.
Where it all Began
I was raised in a village in Olongapo City, Zambales. Envision your beautiful life. Clean water. Restaurants. Movie theaters.
Now picture the exact opposite.
My village was not the safest of places. It had killers running around, crooked cops, gang members and thieves. Our community had little to no technology, low wealth and an overall tough lifestyle.
But you know what? Our family was happy.
Some of my best memories were playing hide n seek with my childhood friends, hearing stories from the village elders and eating everyday with my loved ones.
Life was good. Scratch that. Life was great.
Until it all Changed.
Due to the heavy crime in our village, my dad felt it was best that our family move to the United States.
He broke the news to my brother and me when we came back from school one day. This was the worst news two young boys could possibly hear.
This move meant that we would have to give up everything and start over. We had to give up our friends, family and lifestyle.
My brother and I were crushed, but there was nothing that we could do. The move was going to happen whether we wanted it to or not.
And just like that, we begin packing up, creating our final memories in Zambales and counting down the days.
The next week, I said goodbye to all my childhood friends and family members. We did not know when we were all going to see each other again. Better yet, we did not even know if we were going to see each other again.
Saying goodbye was by no means easy, but it had to be done. Our village gave us their blessings and cried as our rickshaw drove us off to our flight.
Off to a new world.
Not an Easy Transition
Moving to the US was a huge culture shock. Everything was so damn different. People were playing with this thing with a screen in there palms. Oh wait, that’s called a Gameboy. Many people had huge spiky hair.
This was a foreign concept to me, considering most of us had comb overs in the village. Everyone called football soccer. What was going on?
Life was going to be different.
My biggest struggle? The language.
We learned the basics of English back in my village. But now, English would become our predominant tongue.
My accent was awful when I first moved here, and it did not go unnoticed.
I would get mocked by my fellow classmates anytime I spoke.
They would always imitate my voice and ridicule the way that it sounded.
This led me to being very self-conscious about my voice growing up.
Being self-conscious about my voice led me to being very socially anxious and shy.
Soon enough, friends became a scarce commodity.
There were a lot of kids forming friendships in the classrooms and in the playgrounds.
But me?
No, I just kept to myself. The lone wolf look gave off the perception that I was not interested in hanging out with people.
But in reality, I was. I just didn’t know how.
The lone wolf lifestyle began to take its toll on me. Eventually, I would always avoid speaking up in public gatherings. Social events became a thing that needed to be avoided at all costs.
Eventually, the feeling of uneasiness made it tough to walk around in public due to the fear of being judged.
Life was becoming very difficult.
Just a shy kid with big dreams
I was always shy growing up. But just because I was quiet with my words did not mean that I was quiet with my mind. I had dreams of dying a legend. I genuinely wanted to impact the lives of people around the world.
My dream was to one day become successful so I could go back to my village and help my country resolve the ongoing issues with homelessness, child trafficking and poverty.
But how?
How was I going to do this if I could never speak up? How could I do this if I was so terrified of people? How was I going to make an impact if I did not have any confidence?
The short answer, I could not. It was impossible to make an impact with the current mentality that I had.
Something needed to change.