When Work Drains Meaning

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Daylessness, you know, like there is a particular kind of exhaustion that comes not from working too hard, but from working in the wrong direction. You can feel productive and still feel empty. You can be uh achieving and still be adrift, but uh resentless. And that that gap between who you are and what you do every day. It doesn't just drain your energy, it drains your sense of meaning. And for so many of us, that uh misalignment shows up as burnout, as anxiety, as a quiet sense that something fundamental is missing. So today we are going to talk what happens when you stop running from that feeling and start listening to it. Yeah, you heard that correct.

Meet Florian And The Core Question

SPEAKER_02 1:01

So, welcome uh back to another powerful episode of Healthy Mental Healthy Life Dear Listeners. I'm your host, Avik, and this is the podcast exists to make mental health less clinical and more human. One conversation, I find. So we talk about the real stuff, the daily habit, the quiet struggles, the small shifts that change everything. No quick fixes, no jargons, just honest and practical insights that you can actually use.

unknown 1:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:31

So today I'm speaking with someone, very lovely guest. Please welcome Florian Kemerin. So welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

It's just my pleasure to spend some time with you and your amazing communities.

SPEAKER_02 1:46

Amazing. Thank you so much, Florian, for joining us today. And um the other song is like uh before we delve deep into the discussion, I will quickly love to introduce with Florian. So Florian is the founder of Vucating.ai and the creator of the seven-steping framework and has spent years helping people turn burnout into breakthrough by aligning purpose with preparation. Yeah. So uh a lot of much over time, dear listeners. Uh, let's get started and uh let's have a good conversation with Florian. So we'll go to the show again. Thank you. Thank you.

Purpose Is Built From The Inside

SPEAKER_02 2:24

Amazing. So, Florian, like um I want to start with something like a lot of people believe that uh there is this idea that purpose is something you discover. Like it is already out there waiting for you to stumble across it. And take the idea that purpose is not found, but it is built. So, what does that shift in thinking actually change for someone who feels stuck, or maybe you can say disconnected from their work?

SPEAKER_01 2:57

Yeah, it's a great question, Alex. So the the problem is actually that we are educated in a wrong direction. We're born vulnerable, yeah, we cannot survive alone. So we depend on our parents, and we depend on our um the support of um you know the people taking care of us, and then we start an education. And our entire focus is on making a living, stay strong, healthy, you know, life is hard, you need to survive. So that's the push. And whenever you talk about purpose, people say, oh, yeah, yeah, no, no. First you, you know, first you make money and then you can do good. And that's very unfortunate because rather than us living our life, you know, and really self-realizing, saying, I'm living my life, you don't. It's only externally related, it's only what happens around us, it's influenced from the external, and we are only reactive, and our life is empirical to whoever we meet, we bump into, and whatever opportunity we see. And then also, even worse, we educated that success is fame, fortune, and power, which is only nourishing our ego. And as long as our ego is nourished, maybe things feel okay, but you will eventually fall off a cliff because it will not, you don't take it with you. Yeah, it doesn't make your life meaningful. And even if you're famous, and you see this with artists or see with the sports after the wave is over, you know, they fall off a cliff very often because it is not self-realizing. And that's where I say, hold a second. Purpose should be dealt very differently because purpose is my compass, my north star, telling me what makes my life meaningful. How to can live, I live my life to its fullest. So therefore, it's not just something you discover somewhere out there, but it's actually an inside-out reaction saying, this is how I want to contribute. And then you make your decisions no longer on fear, which is all the educational component we have, but actually on love. What do I love, what I'm passionate about? And that's why I'm just saying purpose is not found somewhere, it is actually inside yourself. Very true, very true.

SPEAKER_02 5:28

So like so, if purpose um is built, so then what are the first uh raw materials that someone needs to start with? Like what do they look at or maybe question first?

Finding Your Raw Materials For Purpose

SPEAKER_01 5:46

Yes. So normally you need to uh cut out the noise and stop looking outside. You just turn inside and understand who are you? Yeah, what makes your life meaningful. And normally, those are two things is one is you know, you have some in great personal development methodologies to understand who you are, and so you learn actually what makes you tick, what is important for you, how do you function mentally, emotionally, and instinctively. And the second component goes actually, your life gets meaning generally between the age of two and six years old. So the first two years your brain develops, and then you start to be cognizant of stuff happening around you.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

And in that window, normally you see something, you witness something, can be traumatic, doesn't have to be traumatic, but it's something you do not like. It's usually your earliest childhood memory. Not always, and sometimes it's more difficult, you know, especially when traumatic things are involved. But that's actually something you want to fix, you want to change, you want to contribute to the world. Because if you flipped your script, this is your script, this is your imprint, to that moment, your life has given a meaning of what you're witnessing, and you say, okay, this is the wrong I write, I want to write. And so this is a part where it's an exercise to be done, you go back and you feel that, and then you shouldn't start from there to flip your script and peeling the onion. The second part is then you look, imagine yourself and visualize yourself at your deathbed. No drama, no disease, no accident, just you parting away. What are the things you would look would like to have lived and loved and contributed to to say, okay, my life was meaningful? Because most, nearly every person who parts away is regretting having spent too much in the hamster wheel, you know, and not living loved and lived enough, because the system is set up wrongfully. But that's the second exercise I do. And then you bring it today in your in the world where you are today. Yeah, you understand your imprint, which is your driving force, and you can flip it. You understand what are the things which you really care about, and then you look at it, okay, what are my assets? What am you my skill set? So it's a little bit you create your icky guy, you know, of the things you're good at, you're passionate about, the world needed, and you can be paid for. So those are the things. And then you have actually an understanding, okay, this should I should be, take this and just put it in the center of my decision-making process going forward. Yeah, so it's my North Star and the guide, which I decide for me to actually live my life. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 9:00

So um that's amazing. I mean, I think that's such a relief for people to hear because like uh you do not have to wait for some lightning bolt moment and you can start building with what you what what is already in front of you, even if it's messy or something.

Turning Stress Into Useful Information

SPEAKER_02 9:17

So and and also you you also talk about like uh stress not as the enemy, but as a messenger, like that is a that is a really different framing than what most of us are taught. Like in everyday life, when someone is feeling overwhelmed or anxious, how do they uh start to see stress differently? Like, what does it look like uh to treat it as information rather than something to just push through or avoid?

SPEAKER_01 9:59

It's a good question. The problem comes from if you ended up somewhere, which wasn't really your decision, but it just happened to be there, yeah, and you are looking in front of you at the problem, or actually imagine yourself coming up something and you get anxious about, that is very unhealthy. You know, normally you have the fight, flight, or freeze reaction if it's really difficult. Yeah, or you can have a burnout because you end stuck into something which you actually didn't want to do. And that is because it's a the big difference is self-inflicted stress because you decided to do something, you take a risk, is actually the opposite. It's healthy. Adorin goes up, endorphine go up, you know, um, because it's you like when you do sports, you want to do something, you know, or you say, This is my plan and I want to live my land that way, it might be still stressful, and life is hard, and life is unforeseen, and things will happen, you know, to you, but then it's very different. If it is, if it is you and it's your decision and it's hard, it's actually something you look very differently and you can deal with differently rather than being stuck because something has happened around you, yeah, and you're stuck and you don't know, you don't want to be in that situation, and that's a big difference for self-inflicted stress, which is positive, and then just external stress, um, you know, stressing you out.

SPEAKER_02 11:45

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 11:47

But that's also why I'm saying the important part is you only grow out of outside of your comfort zone.

unknown 11:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:55

And that's when you put yourself to stress because you decide to do so, which is actually not unhealthy. You know, it's like in the being in the green anxiety zone of doing in sports and performing, you know, that's the part where you want to be because you go out there and you take a risk, and that's where you grow. And the stress is actually healthy to you.

SPEAKER_00 12:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:16

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:19

And and um, can you give an example of what that might look like in practice? Like um what is try I mean, stress trying to tell someone when it keeps showing up in the same situation or around the same decisions.

SPEAKER_01 12:38

Yeah, you might be in the same situation, but if it's your choice to be there, it's very different, then you know, you have ended up somewhere. This is what happened actually

The Success That Still Felt Wrong

SPEAKER_01 12:51

to me. At the age of 33, I had the success my parents wanted me to have. I was running company and a family in a home, but I wasn't missing, I wasn't knowing anything about myself. I just ended up to be there. And that's why I said, hold a second, I don't actually know anything about myself. I have been the absent subject of my own education, because my education has given me the tools to make a living, but not to tell me who am I and what is it what I actually want to do. Yeah, and that is you might be still in a situation which looks similar, but the origin is very different, and therefore the expression is very different, and the stress level is very different.

unknown 13:30

Got it.

Keeping Alignment When Life Shifts

SPEAKER_02 13:33

So, like, um, and also like uh one thing I think that uh about a lot is that clarity and alignment and not one-time achievements and life changes, we change, and what felt right a year ago might not fit anymore. Right. So, how do you help people sustain this kind of alignment over the time, especially when setbacks happen or when old patterns try to creep back in?

SPEAKER_00 14:06

Hmm.

SPEAKER_01 14:07

Very good question. Yeah. So you need to be aware of your past.

SPEAKER_00 14:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:14

And not to feel bad or to blame yourself, but just as a reference point. And then you need to make sure that you can close loops which are open from the past in order for you to move on. So that's an important part to be aware and then to think about what you deal with it. The beauty is if you know your purpose, the expression of the purpose, what you can do with it, can be thousandfold, many different ways, and then you can change. But what doesn't change is your North Star. It's just the path. Yeah, and that is also something very positive. So that you look back, and when you look back, you understand it from a helicopter view, amongst all the trees, you finally see the forest. And you understand why you have certain things have happened to you. What is your path? What are your learnings? And you see that rather as something difficult, you see it as a blessing, as a gift for you, you know, to further develop and and and progress rather than being stuck in in the old patterns, you know, not really understanding where to go.

SPEAKER_02 15:25

So, um, and and also like, I mean, this is this is such an important part.

AI Disruption And Human Agency

SPEAKER_02 15:31

Like, uh, what about in the context of technology and AI? Like, you work at the uh intersection of human agency and AI. So, how does that play into sustaining mental well-being and purpose in a world that is changing faster than ever?

SPEAKER_01 15:48

Ooh, a very relevant question, Aruki. So we are in an industrial revolution.

SPEAKER_00 15:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:58

We're moving from the knowledge economy, which in the past we were, you know, we had to be privileged, you had to be a good school, a good university, and then you had a job, and over the years you became better, and you had more knowledge, and more knowledge meant, you know, better income, you know, a more economic value. That is all changing now. It's being disrupted by AI because AI has the knowledge. You can access this cheap, fast, at any moment. And that basically means you're moving from a knowledge economy to a creator economy. But that also means that the old values of, you know, my generation, for example, you know, incremental value over time because you know more, you know, and that means you are, you know, your economic, your productivity output is better and can be better rewarded is actually no longer the case. And that disrupts big time actually for young people out of students, out of university, for example. The entry-level jobs are fading away. Yes. And it's not that a person is unemployed, it's actually unpositioned. And that's where, of course, for me, my big, big concern coming in is if you do not know who you are, you will ask the machine to help for help, you know, for help. And that means that AI becomes a crutch rather than a tool. Because if you know what you want, AI is wonderful. It helps you to actually, you know, be more productive and do things better. But if you don't know, then you're down a path where an algorithm will decide the fate of a human being. And that is really terrible. And that's actually also why I decided to create a platform. I created is that to use technology to leverage it for the sake of humans to understand themselves first, and then use, and then, you know, uh decide on their path. Because I believe in the creator economy. Uh, your identity is a uh is an asset, which an economic has the economic value. And that provides you uh opportunities then, and you can build them around you because AI will not, you know, replace your human agency if you don't want to. If you know your agency and you know your identity, and I think this is key in the economy going forward, that's to first understand who you are and what you want, and then you look outside, because otherwise you will be lost very quickly and will end up somewhere where you don't know, and the likelihood for you to have mental health disease or burnouts or even suicide, you see all these negative trends is very high. That's why my clear message for people is first you know who you are, and then you need to figure out actually how to live your life, including leveraging the technology.

One Guiding Rule For Decisions

SPEAKER_02 19:00

So if you have to give one advice to the listeners today, what that'll be.

SPEAKER_01 19:09

Don't look don't act opportunistically anymore. Decide what you want to do, how you want to make a difference in the world, and then you figure out actually how to get there. Because you will be on your zone, you know, you will not work a day in your life because you're up to something which you really care for, and your life becomes really meaningful, and in the new economy, you are much better off using the technology for you to get what you want rather than being exposed to technology telling you what to do.

Where To Find Florian And Closing

SPEAKER_02 19:50

And if listeners also connect with you, how to connect.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

So if you want to know a little bit more about my methodology and you know how to align purpose with your profession, then you can do that at a site called uh it's on dash vocation.com. That's a little literature in these things. If you want to test out a platform where you get an AI coach for you to just to learn what you want and figure that out, and that's vocating.ai.ai. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 20:29

So, dear listeners, what I'll do is I'll put up the links, details, everything into the show notes for your easy reference so that you can easily reach out. Um, and um I have to say here that um purpose is not a kind of destination, it is something that you build day by day by choosing to live, uh live closer to who you are, right? So that is much important. And uh I have to say thank you so much, Florian, uh, for this conversation, for sharing your perspective. It is really, really helpful for people. And uh dear is like, I mean, this has been healthy man, healthy life, and thank you so much for being here today, for listening, for hearing enough about your mental health to show off how the conversation is like this one. And um, I'd say if something in your uh in in today's episode resonated with you, I hope you carry it with you, not as pressure, but as permission. Permission to pause, to question, to build something that is more aligned. So I just say take care of yourselves and I'll see you in the next one. Thank you so much.