Conspiracy theories annoy me, but in the engagement-driven society, everything is crafted to confuse us, or at best, just distract us. It's not about a villain pulling strings from the shadows, but rather, as humans, we're always looking for shortcuts. We've collectively built a system that steals our time and makes us live with thousands of conflicting ideas in our heads without even paying rent.

The paradox is harsh. Everything promises to be more personal, more YOU, more tailored to your specific needs. Remarketing algorithms and pixels know you better than your own mom. Brands speak directly to your soul (or at least try). But the real effect is precisely the opposite: the more personalized, the more generic we become.

Attack of the Clones (aesthetic)

You've got influencers giving style lessons with their Zara outfits replicated by 47 different people on the way to the subway. In 2024, Zara launched over 11,000 new styles, creating the illusion of infinite variety. But look closely: everyone dresses the same, thinks alike, aspires to the same things.

Most perplexing is seeing people treating others like NPCs when they themselves seem like they came out of a person factory. From the fade haircut with designs to their aspirations as entrepreneur-investor-life-coach, they're exactly the same as 90% of their peers. The term NPC migrated from video games to describe people who seem to operate on autopilot, but those who use it the most often are the most programmed themselves.

Identity matters because without a healthy, transparent relationship with yourself, you will never have a healthy, transparent relationship with anyone else. It's simple math. You can't give what you don't have, and if you don't know yourself, what the heck are you sharing with the world?

People don’t realize they’re lying to themselves. They're adrift, victims of consequences they can't even identify. 63% of American consumers define authenticity as "keeping promises", not as being genuinely oneself. We've commoditized even the concept of being real.

There's plenty of people who perceive themselves as happy. Car of the year, apartment with a view, everything very aesthetic in the feed. But double click on the casual conversation, and that person is suffering in ways they can't even articulate. They live in a state of fatigue that doesn't heal with rest, because the exhaustion isn't physical: it's existential 90% of the time.

Symptoms of Being Lost

As a n3ur0diverg3nt, I'm terrible at small talk. My brain instinctively rejects superficial conversations, not due to snobbery, but because they seem designed to keep masks in place. I'd rather talk about traumas in the first conversation than weather for the tenth time.

This "limitation" turned out to be a superpower. Neurodivergent individuals often prefer depth because traditional social cues are designed to conform, not connect. When you skip the protocol and go straight to the point, you discover that everyone is carrying some invisible weight.

When we're adrift, the body and mind send us clear signals. We feel tired (but sleep 8 hours), anxious (for no apparent reason), depressed (having "everything"), or simply bored. Bored of everyone and everything, in an eternal scrolling loop that doesn't satisfy.

That state leads us to fantasize about leaving it all. Moving to a different city, country, continent. "Sydney will make me happy". "New York will understand me". "I need to go to Southeast Asia to find myself". Spoiler: the geographic upgrade is an illusion. You only swap one set of problems for another, because the problem travels with you.

To be truly aligned, you must undertake a kind of emotional archaeology. Go back to the exact moment your fear started. Fear profoundly affects our ability to make authentic decisions. Fear of what? Why is that specific fear guiding your decisions, or worse, your paralysis?

Identifying fear is crucial, as it acts like a photographic negative. By elimination, you can identify the opposite: what you do like, what you do love, what is truly yours. It's an uncomfortable process. It requires admitting that many of your "decisions" were reactions to fear, not genuine choices.

Your Authenticity Glow Up

When you are aligned with yourself, you even look different. Not from a mystical or new-age perspective. There is evidence that internal coherence manifests physically. You undergo what people call a glow up, but you're not following a 10-step skincare routine.

Some say you "vibrate higher" when you stop lying to yourself. I prefer to think of it as coherence: when what you think, feel, say, and do are aligned, you generate a magnetic presence that others perceive unconsciously.

This is so universal it permeates our entire culture. There are songs that narrate deep identity transformations. Entire music careers transform when the artist matures and discovers what is meant for them and what isn’t.

Think about it: How many movies have you seen about someone who "has it all" but feels empty? How many books about existential crises that end in revelations? Art reflects this truth because it is the fundamental human story: losing oneself to find oneself.

TODAY's mission isn't to sell you another personal development course. It is to give you the tools for your real self-discovery. Not the one that looks good on LinkedIn, but the one that lets you wake up without that heavy sensation in your chest.

We live in a system designed to keep us optimizing external metrics while we disconnect from ourselves. Likes, followers, salary, square meters. But when you optimize for metrics you didn't choose, you end up living a life that isn't yours.

Do you know what's truly radical today? Stop. Ask yourself what YOU want, not your family, not Instagram, not your boss. Do that uncomfortable archaeology of fear. Discover what moves you when no one is watching.