For 99.99% of human evolution we spent our daily lives hunting and foraging for food. Slowly, we began to socialize and formed communities but still, almost all daily activity was spent working together to figure out how to survive in terms of shelter, food, and protection. Over the last 10,000 years during our most rapid development, it continued much the same. Over the last 100~150 years, however, mankind has gone through a massive transformation. Today, most of us do not have to worry about daily survival. What we have created for ourselves is new purpose and leisure. We create a goal and go for it. We really have no idea why - we just do it.

For most of our evolution we have been trying to survive, to exist, but now, in essence, since we no longer have to fight to survive, we have transitioned and are searching for meaning for our existence. Nothing is set; we are free to search in different directions. Still, we do not really know why we exist, so we just set goals and scramble towards what our society suggests is forward. Some people fare well, others less so. Part of what we are doing is to find out who we are and then to create some kind of meaningful identity in a busy world. We need to apply meaning to who we are, where we are, why we are here, and where we are headed. Meaning is everything and creates our own individual identity in a complicated world.

Today, whether we realize it or not, what everyone is doing is searching for meaning for their existence. And, when or if they cannot find it, they add meaning by creating purpose which gives them their 'own' particular meaning for their 'own' particular existence. The young mind that becomes self-aware early on has a better start and therefore a better chance of achieving more later.

In this modern world where people move from place to place, many people may lose track or not even think about/know who they are. 'Who you are' is typically based on your direct roots and includes history, location, family, and knowing your place within all that. Many people never even consider it but it remains an important aspect of our mental health. Adults have had a long time to come to terms with all the change they see around them but to youngsters it is an indistinct shadow trailing behind, around, and ahead and sometimes it can be rather dark.

Accordingly, school should make a very determined effort to bring students to the realization of who they are, their own personal history, and their place in the local environment.

They need to be made aware of their present identity, which will be a combination of history, home, extended family, school, sports, hobby, and academics. They also need to set strong short-medium-long term goals.

They also need to be given forward vision of where / what they might be in the future. A child with future vision (Eg. job direction) will be more likely to make decisions (subject choices/reading) that help them arrive. A child may not yet know, but a school should keep nudging them along.

If a child can develop a sense of purpose, it will add meaning to their existence and they will likely progress positively.

If you take control, you will be able to craft your own future; add meaning to your existence in a positive way. If you do not, you will likely be pushed along this way or that by circumstance and will not have a clue about who you are or why you are here. Your current identity will not develop and thus will just continue as is.

Over the last 20~30 years or more, in the Western world (not Asia), the creative arts have gotten a bad rap in school. Everyone gets pushed along the academic track; worse, it seems more important than ever as the arts and tech have lost status. People want to be somebody: a label, a name, a position, and after all their effort they find themselves unhappy to be pushing paper across a desk or selling coffee out of a window - just another brick in the wall. Comfort and safety are the new norm; hard work and risk have become the enemy. In the media (TV, film), trades have been projected negatively over the last 20+ years.

However, the Way is not lost - it is just not quite so clear to the naive young mind. Look at everything around you; beauty and the arts have been crafted into everything you see. Your shoes, clothes, watch, necklace, furniture, appliances, instruments; even the tools look good ... art is in everything. But most of this is now made in Asia.

In the trades, good craftsmanship in woodwork or metalwork or design is always sought after. But little is made of this at school where the only aim is to meet some standard and pass a test. The test has become the aim, not the acquisition of the skill. In school, except in sports, skill is rarely an objective. In fact, even in sports, it would be hard to deny that participation has taken precedence over skill. For the young mind, trades offer a way to redefine the self.

Forge your Identity

What sets a young person free is when they decide upon a path, especially one that requires a skill, and then ... they set about acquiring that skill. If they do not need pushing ... they are free. It may take planning, more study, credentials, and a year or two or more of hard work. There will be ups and downs ... mostly it will be self-learned/forged though hard work. This will create a new future and add a positive aspect to, or create a whole new, identity.

There is nothing more positive than having a skill to a level that few others have, and that you become recognized for having. And better still, a skill that you enjoy doing and get paid for doing. The trick is to search for and create that happiness - nothing happens by magic or wishful thinking. The person ultimately responsible for forging your future identity is yourself. Over time, you can completely change from a negative past 'experience'.

To be really settled in your occupation - which becomes your identity - you need to aim for something that:

This all adds up to being mindfully productive. Production is the ultimate source of wealth in any economy and the closer you place yourself within this process the more satisfied you are likely to be.

* Note: This is a practical life approach, not aimed at those seeking to go to university to become a specialist.