At a very young age, I found myself haunted by a single question: “Who am I?” In my desperate search for an answer, I tried countless things — from writing articles to writing off inventory; you name it, I’ve done it. And to be honest, I loved it all.

My heart was never truly set on doing just one thing. Somewhere between beginnings and endings, I realized this is who I am: a person who finds joy in many paths rather than just one.

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But let me tell you, discovering that truth was far easier said than done.

As a 25 year old living in the heart of NCR, how can I not romanticize life? Living with one title my entire life was never something I saw myself accepting. Privilege? No. Permission? A hundred percent yes.

After a couple of internships and a few culture shocks, I realized the time we feel frustrated is because we feel a lack of control.

How we control ourselves is all hidden in the decisions we make.

True freedom is the ability to choose. Why do one thing your whole life just because someone you did not even meet said it? I am a content strategist who hosts a podcast, builds cool merchandise that people actually care about, creates content that makes you feel something, and cooks the best desserts. Never in my wildest thoughts did I imagine doing it all.

You can be an engineer who moonlights as a mixologist or a creative director who can be a chef. Why limit yourself in a box when you can choose to be “and” not “or”?

Recently I was reading about Anthony Bourdain, and he is a classic example of what we are talking about. When we say his name, a chef is not the only thing that comes to our mind; and that’s the whole point. He was so much more. He tore the box and created his own, and here we are in 2025 still reading and writing about him.

It’s as simple as doing what you love more and more. It’s choosing consciously to take the happier route. It doesn't have to be something monumental like climbing a mountain, it can begin by baking biscuits every Friday.

Being multidimensional has so many intangible perks that shape you as a human. You understand people better, you try, you fail, you learn, you grow empathy. Because if you’ve tried many things, failure becomes familiar, and with failure comes empathy. You become more open-minded, more willing to understand people, situations, or stories, because you’ve experienced more.

And the perks don’t stop there. Burnout does not feel like burnout. If one thing feels overwhelming, and you don’t know how to shut off like me, you can just choose to pick something else. Just because there is always something to pick when you do things you absolutely love. Too tired to write an article? Finish the ideation of a shoot.

The best part is you get to meet great people from all walks of life, coming from different backgrounds, experiences and narratives. Maybe you meet someone at guitar classes who becomes your best friend, or someone who helps you get a great contact.

We all know the importance of networking, it’s social currency.

The courage you gather to be bad at something new is probably one of the best outcomes of this whole discussion.

I remember I used to hate creating content and speaking in front of the camera but I had to do it in order to survive. I made a fool of myself in the first month and am still getting hang of it but boy, I take myself so lightly now just because of that. Because I failed on camera, now I am not afraid to fail at all.

Discover how far you can go to do something that only matters to you, only then you’ll know who you truly are. It’s not about that job, it’s not about other people, it’s about you and your self-discovery.

If you have the free will to doom scroll for two hours straight, you also have the will to do what you think you’re truly good at. Free will; it’s a beautiful concept if used correctly. You have the free will to join a course after your 9-5. You have the free will to learn a skill from YouTube. You also have the free will to sit at the same desk your entire life.

So which one are you choosing? You can copy any artform, any content piece, any dish, any garment, but you can’t copy the maker behind it. Because everything we put out is a product of what we see, what we feel, what we eat and whom we meet along the way. Someone may come and copy my podcast format or my questions, but they can never be me.

So, fool around maybe? Play. Feel things. Try and fail and then try again. Embrace every layer yourself, just because the more you explore, the richer your story gets.

Banner image courtesy of Kensuke Koike

auster

You owe it to yourself to explore this little thing called life. Find your limits and then break it.

auster