Finding your purpose; what I would say to my 15 year old self

If I have a time machine and I could go back when I was young and I could speak with my 15 years old self, this is what I would say to him.

Look, Farooq, “the quickest way between two points is a straight line. Go directly towards whatever you want with focus, while the whole world is distracted and lost. You go directly towards it.”

Build your strengths

I would also tell myself to build strengths and know your weaknesses. A lot of people just see other people’s strengths and try to copy them.

You can’t build on weakness. Everyone’s different, someone’s strength might be your weakness so you just learn from them. Remember, you can only build on your strengths.

You can get anything you want

Always remember that you can get anything you want in life. Most people short sell themselves and lose. If you are persistent you can get it, and if you are consistent you can keep it. I remember this quote; “Most people overestimate what can be done in one year and underestimate what can be done is 20 years.”

You can learn anything faster

You must build self-confidence. As Elon Musk says ‘Think of knowledge as a tree.’

“It is important to view knowledge as sort of a semantic tree — make sure you understand the fundamental principles, i.e., the trunk and big branches, before you get into the leaves/details or there is nothing for them to hang on to.”

Everybody starts at the bottom

No one cares if you are born rich or poor. The only thing I care is that everybody starts from bottom, life is like a ladder and what you want is at the top but you start from bottom.

Most people try to jump up too quick, you know what happens to them, they slip and fall. It hurts and a lot of people never get up again because the pain is too much.

You go step by step, one inch at a time. It might take you longer than you expect, but stick to it and don’t give up, and as long as you give it everything you got, you can achieve it.

Remember, everybody’s purpose is different. Find yours and go all in with patience and persistence.