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What happens when you completely dedicate yourself to a cause?

I mean completely.

You wake up thinking about it.

You go to sleep thinking about it.

You’re driving down the road thinking about it.

You’re standing in the grocery store looking at bananas and suddenly thinking:

“You know, this could be a video.”

It consumes you.

And I’ve been asking myself lately:

Is that a good thing?

Because when I started the Truth Party, I thought I was trying to change the country.

I had ideas.

I had opinions.

I had things I thought were wrong.

And I thought:

Maybe I can do something about this.

But something happened that I never expected.

While I was trying to change the world around me…

the work started changing me.

I started talking to strangers.

Really talking to them.

And more importantly, listening to them.

I started going places I normally wouldn’t go.

Talking to people I normally wouldn’t meet.

Hearing opinions I wouldn’t normally hear.

And slowly, some of my assumptions started disappearing.

I became more curious.

More comfortable around people.

Less judgmental.

More willing to walk into a place where I don’t know anybody and say:

“Hi. I’m John. Can I ask you a question?”

That’s not the person I was six months ago.

And here’s the strange part.

I like this guy better.

Not because he’s got everything figured out.

Jesus Christ, no.

If anything, he’s discovered how little he actually knows.

But he’s engaged.

He’s alive.

He’s interested.

He’s willing to be uncomfortable.

He’s willing to look stupid.

He’s willing to hear no.

He’s willing to change his mind.

And maybe that’s what finding a purpose actually does.

At first, you think you’re dedicating yourself to something.

But eventually, that something starts demanding things from you.

Patience.

Humility.

Courage.

Discipline.

Empathy.

And if you’re willing to give those things…

you change.

That’s what I didn’t understand.

I thought I needed to become somebody important to make a difference.

Now I’m beginning to think making a difference is what helps you become the person you wanted to be.

And I’m 69 years old.

That’s another thing nobody tells you.

We talk about finding yourself like it’s something you’re supposed to accomplish at 25.

Bullshit.

You can find yourself at 40.

At 60.

At 69.

Hell, maybe we’re never finished.

Maybe the whole point is to keep becoming.

And that’s what’s happening to me.

I started with a political idea.

Then I started interviewing people.

Then I started making videos.

Writing.

Making music.

Talking to strangers.

Taking chances.

Getting rejected.

Getting back up.

And somewhere in the middle of all that chaos, I realized:

I’m becoming the person I’ve always wanted to be.

Not someday.

Not when everything works out.

Not if the movement becomes successful.

Right now.

That’s important.

Because I’ve realized the success of this experiment can’t only be measured by how many people join something.

Or how much money gets raised.

Or how many people watch a video.

Those things matter.

But there’s another measurement.

Who did I become while doing it?

Did I become more compassionate?

Did I become more courageous?

Did I listen better?

Did I understand people I once misunderstood?

Did I spend my days doing something that mattered to me?

Did I wake up excited to be alive?

If the answer is yes…

then something has already succeeded.

The cause changed me.

And maybe that’s one of the great secrets of purpose:

You don’t always find yourself by looking inward.

Sometimes you find yourself by getting off your ass, walking out the front door, and dedicating yourself to something bigger than yourself.

You go out hoping to change the world.

And one day you look in the mirror and realize…

the first person it changed was you.