“What weakens your Life’s Task, what makes you not feel it or even doubt its existence, is the degree to which you have succumbed to another force in life—social pressures to conform.”

Mastery, Chapter 1, The Life’s Task

A Life’s Task can be loosely described as a unique, intrinsic mission that aligns with our deepest values and passions.

In many ways this can be viewed as a sense of destiny or purpose that exists almost entirely outside of our control.

It is as if we are each gifted some kind of mission at birth that is initially concealed from view, and we are then left to discover this task and see it through.

We are given the opportunity and tools to pursue and fulfil our purpose, but it is up to us to do the rest of the work.

As such, a Life’s Task is something we all possess.

Although, given the time and self-reflection and energy involved in uncovering it, most of us simply float through life without ever finding out what exactly it is we were put on this Earth to seek or achieve.

But unlike superficial goals or ambitions—the likes of which the majority of people, devoid of a true sense of meaning, engage with—a Life’s Task is something deeply personal, shaped by who we truly are rather than by external expectations.

Naturally, then, given that our calling, by definition, requires us to deviate from conventional societal expectations, fully identifying with this task and committing to it unwaveringly is essential to bringing these overarching objectives to fruition.

Of course the intensity of our commitment to our vocation can be easily weakened by various external pressures—a lack of resources, competing responsibilities, overwhelming distractions, to name a few.

However, the factor with the greatest effect is most certainly the extent to which we succumb to social pressures to conform.