Let’s talk about our individuality and life. Today, I will introduce a concept of life that helps us set a goal: a swinging life.
How to set a goal that fulfills us
Sometimes, we want to set a good goal to make our lives fulfilling. Setting a goal gives us visibility of the state. This concrete imagination motivates us.
However, it is sometimes not easy because we have mental duality. Mental duality is that we have at least two contradictory desires.
For example, we sometimes want to be active but sometimes take a rest. We might sometimes wish to contribute to others but sometimes fill ourselves. We might sometimes want a comfortable place but sometimes want to show our talents in a hard situation. Both are our honest wants.
This mental system makes it hard to set an appropriate goal. Even if we try to fill one aspect, another aspect becomes dissatisfied.
Ignoring one aspect can easily become suffering for people with unique individuality. This is because activities that don’t match our individuality stress us.
Why goal setting is hard for people with individualities
That tells us why people with individuality often struggle with goal setting. Our duality makes it hard.
Our moods easily change periodically. In addition, our happiness doesn’t last long even after we achieve a goal. On top of that, when working towards one goal, we have to sacrifice satisfying another side of duality. This is why the stagnation makes both aspects painful.
These difficulties make us want another way of setting goals to match our fickle mood changes.
To solve this problem, I will suggest a new concept: a swinging life. This framework might help us set appropriate goals that suit our individualities.
The concept of a swinging life
A swinging life is a concept that we are stable in a state of fluctuation. Although it sounds contradictory, it allows us to set a goal from another level.
To make it easier to understand, let me introduce three ways of life. They are based on two contradictory aspects: being comfortable and showing individuality. They are as follows:
- A life in a comfort state: We are on the finish line of a goal. We can live comfortably but cannot show our individuality.
- A life while showing our individuality: We are in the process of a goal. We can show our individuality but don’t have comfort.
- A life that swings both of the above (a swinging life): We move forward while swinging both sides. Sometimes, we shake aggressively, but sometimes softly. Balancing them means changing the swing width, not stopping the state.
It is like a pendulum. A pendulum is stable despite swinging. We are such a pendulum with two sides.
Think of swinging as a stable state.
This concept frees us from setting an inappropriate goal that we try to satisfy only one side.
If we know that swinging both sides is natural, we don’t have to set a goal to fill one side. We can honestly allow ourselves to do it. When we want to rest or be active, we can allow ourselves to do so according to our minds.
Of course, we sometimes cannot do it in some situations. We set goals for that purpose.
In this case, goals naturally become the direction of independence. Living according to our inner state means reducing the influence of our surroundings. It is independence.
We don’t have to set a specific goal, such as obtaining a new job, becoming a millionaire, moving toward the countryside, or buying our own houses. Each is one side of two aspects that fluctuate with our moods.
We can predict that fulfilling them will not satisfy the other aspect.
Avoiding setting unnecessary goals
In other words, we can understand setting such specific goals is pointless because we can be creative. We can find many other ways based on our situation as long as we proceed in the right direction.
For example, although we sometimes want to be millionaires, becoming one would not be the final goal in many cases. We want something to buy with money. If we want independence, money would be one way to buy free time or a peaceful place, but we can understand it is not the only way.
This awareness makes us recognize the current situation correctly and make the most of it. We can use our abundance, such as things we already have or things we can get easier.
On the other hand, if we stick to one side, it often causes suffering, as I explained at the beginning of this article. Stagnation would be the most painful in this case because it makes both sides unfulfilled.
There are many ways to be independent. We don’t have to stick to one specific way, like becoming a millionaire. In other words, we can be creative. This is a way for creative people.
Conclusion
That is the concept of a swinging life.
It is a concept that we are stable in a state of fluctuation. Although it sounds contradictory, this allows us to set a goal from another level.
This framework might help us set appropriate goals that suit our individualities.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope to see you in the next one.
