You Don't Want Success. You Want Proof.

One of the hardest, unanswerable questions ever asked is: do we have free will?

I am currently working on a lot of different projects, and one of them is a philosophy book called Questions Worth Asking-a book where I attempt to answer the hardest philosophical questions ever asked, like what is the meaning of life, is there a right way to live, and even whether we have free will.

We all have goals, ambitions, and even a desired lifestyle in our heads. Sometimes it's the same goal since childhood, or it's a new goal you came up with last week: getting in shape, working in quant, or publishing that manuscript.

However, have you ever wondered if you want to attain this goal because it's what you always wanted, or because it was subconsciously pushed onto you as a child?

The reason I began with free will is because of what free will is about. The concept of free will asks us if we make decisions based on what we truly desire, or if it's been pushed onto us.

When I say "pushed onto us," I mean our decisions being influenced by other factors, like other people, social media, our environment, and even the weather.

Sometimes you have goals and you don't really understand why you have them in the first place. Then you start to realize that maybe you don't actually want the end product, whether that's the dream car or even a six-pack. Rather, you want everyone else to know you have it.

Free will is directly connected to this concept of attaining goals for validation, not true desire.

The conditioning around free will is one reason why we pursue goals we don't truly want. You see the fancy cars, the perfect relationships, and a curated life that you think you want because it has a lot of views and comments.

However, deep down, as a kid you wanted to be an athlete, a musician, or a streamer-whatever it may be.

It's hard to get to a point where we can make decisions 100% based on ourselves and not have external factors shape them, since we are already conditioned to think a certain way given our unique backgrounds.

If we want proof, is that a bad thing?

I'm not sure, but every time you win or are doing well, you have that urge to tell other people-maybe even brag a little bit. People don't value or listen to the ones struggling; that's what social media is. Because if you wanted something, worked hard for it, and achieved it genuinely for intrinsic purposes, then you wouldn't need to showboat.

Ask yourself today if the goals you are pursuing are self-chosen, or something for validation.