By Mahatma Das
In the early days, Prabhupada asked devotees how they wanted to serve Krsna. Usually they would say something like, “Whatever you want, Srila Prabhupada.” And he would respond, “No, I want to know what you want to do for Krsna. Prabhupada was doing what he taught his managers to do: challenge devotees to find out what they are most inspired to do for Krsna. “Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.” - Carl Jung Our life’s purpose should not necessarily be chosen because of what others expect of us. Often what others expect is the very thing we are least motivated to do. We shouldn’t choose our mission to impress others; neither should we do it to take advantage of others. And we shouldn’t choose it because someone else is doing it. Sometimes you may have goals that are in contradiction to one another. For example, you may want to be a professor but don’t want to spend the time and effort to get a PhD. You may want to play in the Philharmonic orchestra but don’t want to spend much time learning music and practicing your instrument. This is what happens when you make goals that are not connected to your life mission. In this state you’re likely to take one step forward and one backward, and you often get in your own way. To accomplish such things you may need continual outside direction. Strong motivation isn’t going to be there when your goals are not inspiring.