Who I Am

Have you asked yourself, “what is my purpose in this life” and panicked? If so, you’ve got to the right place!

Maybe you lived and worked on autopilot, and just now you start figuring out who you really are, or perhaps you’ve already tried to get some answers about yourself and got none, or only vague ones..

Hi, I’m Shachar Pan, a late bloomer who is about to turn 40 (still digesting that). My mission in this blog is to help you befriend the daunting “life purpose” query and define your life path in a pleasant yet effective way.

As a highly sensitive person, I was overwhelmed by exploring my purpose and struggled with it for many years. After defining my path, I’m here to help you determine yours!

I’m doing so by sharing my mistakes, discoveries, insights I earned over my journey, and tools that helped me know myself better.

Today I work as a blogger and YouTuber. I also hold a B.A. in Sociology and Education and a Master’s Degree in Sociology from TAU.

I believe that in today’s online market, there is a greater opportunity to unleash your creative, authentic self and make money from doing what you love. So, the more recent content on the blog is designed to help you with finding your online thing.

My Journey

My search for purpose started in my 20’s.

I studied M.A. in sociology because I assumed it can help me promote a better society, and that felt very meaningful at that time. My identity was there, in the advanced studies and publishing papers. However, I chose that route without really thinking about the day after I finish my M.A.

At the same time, I didn’t find much meaning as an employee. I worked as a back office executive in a recruitment company, where I also prepared some newspaper articles about the work market (how ironic..). I found this part of my role interesting but still felt like something is missing..

Later on, I tried to be a customer service agent at an investment house but I didn’t find the sense of purpose I was looking for..

When I was 34 the tension around my career got to its peak. I was facing with what is now called “existential crisis”.

I didn’t manage to win a full scholarship for my post-graduate studies (tried two times – in 2017 and 2018) and that made me super frustrated and lost. Besides the bad feeling of failing, I started to rethink the academic path, and whether it really suits me or not.

At this point, I had no direction in life so decided to try to rediscover my passion, but this time I was determined to find a decent professional career that resonates with my passion. However, my body wasn’t ready for the pressure that comes with such a search. I was so nervous from this attempt and various pains started to develop in my body – from shoulder pain, back pain, and heartburn. I felt bad..

Take It Lightly

From that lowest point in my life and on, I’ve gradually put my life together and defined my path as a creator. I have three critical takeaways from my journey:

1. The term “purpose” was hindering my progress.
Finding purpose is essential, but in hindsight, I realize that the term purpose itself symbolized something heavy, vague, and stressful for me. Today, I know that your purpose has to become tangible and positive if you want to find it.

This is where this blog comes into play – to help you translate your purpose into something experiential. A good way to start is by simply trying to find your thing instead of your purpose. Your thing refers to something meaningful and fun you develop over time. That is very different from trying to reveal some spiritual cause of living.

2. I can’t find my purpose all by myself.

Finding purpose without guidance at some point felt beyond my capabilities.. so I started to consult with friends, family, and a therapist and tried many self-assessment tools and techniques I found online.

I realized that specific tools and techniques reduced my stress and helped me refine the path better than just exploring career options. These tools are provided on the tools page of the blog.

3. I need something of my own with decent chances to bloom.

I understood that my career should be focused on creating and teaching in a less competitive setting and with better chances to earn a living from my work.

One year later, I finally found my route – to create, as a solo creator, unique content that can help others to solve similar problems to mine, aka know themselves better and find their thing. At least, this is what I considered suitable at that very point (and it still holds for today). This insight came through starting two websites – that one and a micro niche site dedicated to one of my hobbies – retro keyboards. I also work as a freelance content writer for small businesses.

Today I have a sense of meaning from creating my content and helping others find their path. I keep refining my lane on the go and share my insights in this blog, my channel, and my Medium account.

Over to you

My insights and tips on this site are designed to inspire your self-discovery journey.

Finding purpose in life can take some time, but it can also be less scary and exhausting if you keep the process experiential and fun.

I hope you’ll enjoy the content on this site and use it to explore YOUR purpose and grow, no matter the exact stage you are at.

To your meaningful, fulfilling life,

Shachar