Liberating Epiphany: How to be Happy
As I laid there on my bed thinking about my current situation in my career, I had an epiphany (Wikipedia defines it so succinctly as “an experience of sudden and striking realization”).
It had been almost close to 8 years since I had wondered into my 4th startup adventure, with the first 3 being “failures” during my time in school.
I had used the same question on myself that I usually threw at my unsuspecting job candidates which is “what is the main lesson that you learned during your time at XXX company?”
One of my main answers was:
“If you are not stuck on to the results, then your life will be much happier”
During the period that I would be a consultant to the business before I leave, I would help the team transit with the knowledge and the relationships that I had built throughout the years.
The difference is this time I would not have to worry about the results of any major pitch or outcome. However, don’t get me wrong, I was still very into doing the things right as I felt a sense of responsibility. It was my “baby” after all and a “parent” will always be “parent”.
The result was that I felt more “free” and “liberated” versus the time when I was a co-founder running the show.
“I was happy.”
Happy not because I didn’t need to care about the outcome, but happy because it really did feel liberating.
That was not the epiphany though. The epiphany was when I laid on my bed and realized:
“What if people used the same liberated views on challenges in life?”
It doesn’t matter if you personally believe in an afterlife or a future life as when you’ve left your body, all the “challenges” in life probably doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.
Just like in a nightmare while sleeping, it would seem so real and scary when you’re in it. But when you’re awake, the dream then won’t feel so horrible after all.
So the question here is, if people actually used a liberated view of not putting much importance on the outcomes, will they be much happier in life?
Let me know what you think!