Who are you? What are you? What do you want?

These are not philosophical questions, but rather simple, practical questions. After all, the human race has already fought its way through war and disease. And today, in the developed world, we no longer fight for God or for country; instead the greatest preoccupation of our generation, our 21st century quotient, is primarily to fight for ourselves.

This is reflected in our modern ads and ideology. Generally we no longer advertise information or utility because you can always google something and there’s always an app for everything. Brand loyalty is also now indifferent of country of origin, production studios, record labels, artists or authors. People buy from everyone because it’s all about personality. Today the products that dominate the market are the ones that tell the world who we are—status symbols that silently project to everybody who we want to become: not necessarily our current selves, but our ideal selves.

Today you hear these a lot: “Find yourself!” “Discover yourself!” “Create yourself!” But then you also hear this one too: “Just be yourself.” Usually this phrase is preceded by reassuring words like: “Relax, just be yourself” or “Don’t worry, just be yourself.”  But then again what is yourself? People always say, “This is who I am and this is how I’ve always been.” But is this true? Are you the same person when you’re talking to your lover or employer, parents or peers? Do you act the same when you’re weak or strong, up or down, young or old? Of course not. You have many faces and you change accordingly. There’s the self that you know—who you are and what you’ve done—and there’s the self that you don’t know—your potential. Unfortunately for many of us, potential can only be realized through change; and change, because of its nature, often only comes from crisis or chaos.

But why?

Well, the self is a self-serving body indifferent of your dreams and aspirations. It just wants to preserve its current state—to survive and to maintain. For instance, if you’re comfortable you just want to remain comfortable; if you’re used to a routine, you just want to keep doing that routine; if you feel safe, you just want to keep feeling safe despite being unfulfilled, both emotionally or physically. And that is why safety is a risk. The feeling of safety often turns a person pallid, dormant and invisible. And because we live in a world where everybody is clamoring for visibility, the last thing you want to become is to turn into a human spam—someone to be deleted, reported, or ignored.

Clinging to safety is also a precursor to procrastination, which goes in line with the notion of: “If I can just get through this, then I’ll be able to do that.” This is the same as the never-belief, which is the belief that: “there’s never a good time,” “never the right position,” and “never the right opportunities.” Because of this insistence for safety, pretty soon this never becomes forever and all such persons will ever have are regrets, especially for themselves.

But ultimately you can fail at anything that you do, including being safe. So why hold back? Don’t let chaos happen to you just so you can change; instead cause it! Court carnage instead of waiting for it. Don’t spare your feelings for immediate self-gratification. Don’t accept who you are right now, because who you are is not yet finished. Be on the offense!

Claim what’s yours and fight yourself to the death.