Recognize Dissatisfaction

…Are you totally satisfied? Is this as good as it gets? Are you living your dreams?

If not what is holding you, back? Fear, surrender or the abandonment of dreams in a different kind of slumber?

If you are like most, you have settled into a life of quiet desperation. We each have a unique potential for happiness not just in our relationship and in our engagement with life itself.

The achievement of your potential requires the same four principles, but you cannot wait for them to fall spontaneously into your lap. A wealthy benefactor will not magically appear. You must deliberately create the conditions for your personal renaissance.

You must first recognize your own dissatisfaction. Ask yourself what you value above all else and how closely your life and your actions reflect these values. Ask what brings you happiness and what brings you unhappiness. Sometimes we must hit rock bottom before we can rise to greater heights.

Purpose

It begins with your singular vision and before all else, you must discover your purpose and calling. What do you love? What gives your life meaning and gratification? What can you do for hours on end without feeling bored or drained? What would you be willing to do all day even free?

Practice

Passion and purpose alone are not enough. Success requires the discipline of daily practice for days, months and even years. In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell identifies the need for at least 10,000 hours of deliberate practice that is focused and enriched with feedback and learning (10,000 hours seems to be the magic threshold required for world-class results). Gladwell cites as an example the Beatles, who played night after night in Hamburg before making it big around the world.

Practicalities

We can hardly devote the necessary time and energies to writing and rehearsing if we are struggling to survive. Though, few of us will be sponsored by generous benefactors like the Medici family or wealthy grandparents, we all need enough for food, shelter and clothing. Even if we meet our needs, many of us continue to work for money and become caught up in the getting and spending or materialistic culture. We do not engage in the activity that will sustain our souls. Alternatively, we can get so caught up in the busyness of our social lives, work and parenthood, that we fail to allocate enough time for ourselves and the discovery of our personal calling.

People

Time alone is not enough. None of us can make it alone. We need a fertile environment with the mutual support and synergy of our peers and mentors, and we need a home with the encouragement of friends who believe in us and in our dreams. Awaken from your slumber, open your eyes to a clear vision of your potential, and create the conditions for your personal renaissance.

Dr. Davidicus Wong is a family physician.