The road is at your feet, you may not be able to change the finish line, but you can decide the direction you step in.

When chatting with friends, we talked about a topic: why are some people always so calm and confident? They approach various situations in life with maturity and calmness, without feeling anxious or doubting themselves due to others' opinions or words. They are like a vector, full of strength and clear direction, always moving steadily forward in life.

On the surface, these people seem to be born knowing what they want to do. No matter how the outside world changes or any situation arises, they can calmly and steadily make corresponding decisions, solve problems perfectly, and live a beautiful life. Upon careful analysis, a significant characteristic of calm and confident individuals is a clear and distinct outlook on life. They have a clear understanding of the purpose and meaning of life, knowing who they are and why they came here.

Life philosophy is the fundamental view formed by people in practice on the purpose and meaning of life. It determines the goals of people's practical activities, the direction of their life path, as well as the value orientation of their behavioral choices and attitudes towards life. Outlook on life is an important component of worldview and is constrained by it. The outlook on life is mainly reflected through three aspects: life purpose, life attitude, and life values.

In Ma Xiaosong's book "The Top Students in the Circle of Friends", investment genius Ma Wenya confirmed his life goal at the age of 10- to become someone like Buffett.

The slogan that Luffy often shouts in the manga "One Piece" is: "I am the man who wants to become One Piece

The line from "Shaolin Soccer" is: "If you don't have dreams, what's the difference between being a person and being a salted fish?" As human beings, why should we clarify our own outlook on life?

There is a saying in "The Great Learning": "After stopping, there is stability; after stability, there can be stillness; after stillness, there can be peace

In Hu Shi's "What is the Meaning of Life", his childhood friend Zhu Ziping asked Hu Shi, "Xiao Shan, you are a philosopher. If you raise your wife and children like me, would you be considered a lifelong person

In fact, whether it's raising a wife or feeding children, being a lifelong person doesn't require doing anything with specific "meaning". What really matters is whether you think what you are doing is meaningful. If not, one will be like Zhu Ziping, doubting their own life, feeling uneasy about what they have done, restless and unsettled. Throughout the year, they will find themselves in a daze, only eating for a year, gaining ten pounds of weight, and exhausted.

When you choose a life goal that you think is meaningful, you 'know where to stop', like sitting on a cloud and seeing the top of the mountain you are climbing. Although you may not have 'reached the summit and looked down at the small mountains', you already have a direction in your heart.

One of the functions of this outlook on life is to erect a lighthouse in the heart, illuminating the future and making life no longer confused.

With a goal, there will be small goals next. Food should be eaten bite by bite, and water should be consumed bite by bite. The goal is the direction, and whether it can ultimately be achieved is closely related to the steps taken to achieve the goal. Guided by our goals, we began to develop plans, received feedback in practice, and continuously revised our plans to make big goals smaller. Understanding what one wants to do in life and knowing how to achieve their goals often leads to a calm attitude and a lack of regrets in handling things, with the principle of 'knowing when to stop and then making a decision'.

The second function is to clarify what we should do and know how to do it on the long road of life.

The biggest problem for many people when it comes to reading is: how can they calm down and read? However, many people only hastily buy a few best-selling books in bookstores, take them home and put them on bookshelves, without knowing the category of the books, the author of the books, or why they want to read them. Of course, they cannot continue reading the books in their hands. Life is the same. When we don't have a goal, even a small one, and we just have routine work and life every day, we encounter various problems in our lives, and our hearts are in chaos. We are often influenced by the outside world and our actions are chaotic, so we definitely won't have a calm heart.

In the fast-paced life of today, it's time to stop and ask yourself carefully, explore your own outlook on life, set a goal and start again, lighting up the lighthouse of life for yourself!