Being special vs being functional

Do you think that the most important person in the room is the person with most power, most influence, most trophies or largest following on social media?

I challenge you to think twice about this idea.

The notion that I need to be special is a pitfall. The conduct which seeks the approval of others is called vanity. Functional human beings do not spend time comparing themselves with others or seek approval, they invest their energies on getting on with their lives and passions, motivated by different reasons.

What positions people occupy in society do not correlate with their well-being. It is the how we do our jobs which defines our levels of satisfaction and well-being. In other words, it is not about what we do, its about how we do our job.

Do you have examples of people you know who are in very appealing jobs and yet seem stressed and unhappy? Do you also have examples of people in jobs which society typically classifies as less important who seem to be living wholesomely? Once again, it comes down to our approach to our job, our underlying motivations for doing it and the way we relate to ourselves.

The distinction between being special and being functional is fundamental. In society, most people think in terms of how to be special. The main stream discourse is focused on status, possessions and influence. This does not bring inner peace and well-being. It is an adolescent society which has not come to full maturity. Granted, some functional people exist yet they are not placed in the focal lens of society. Hence, your task to find them and draw inspiration from them becomes harder. This is also because functional people do not spend time advertising themselves and their ideas typically. They have a more modest approach to life and communications.

If being more functional is of interest to you, I urge you to focus on making peace with yourselves. Along the way, you will find out how to be a more functional being. You may find that some of the burdens of striving to be special will fall and you will feel lighter, as well as able to access your inner qualities with fewer obstacles.

More specifically, steps that we can take to explore being more functional are:

• Explore different levels of communication/content on social media.

• Think about how you relate to your friends and colleagues, do you seek their approval?

• Ask yourself why you are performing the function you are performing at work/school?

• Define your values and motivators behind key life actions and decisions.

• Ask yourself if I was not exposed to societal pressure/inner desire to be special, what would I do in life? How would I act?

Answering these questions is a great start to clarifying your values and understanding why you act and think in a certain way. If you desire to make changes to your life, start small and see how it feels. I look forward to hearing what you found from this exercise.