School teaches you to memorize formulas but never how to discover who you are. Horvath’s Chapter 7 reveals why we spend years thinking like everyone else, then feel lost.
The story
School taught me to memorize formulas. It never taught me to discover who I actually am.
Attila B. Horvath nails this in Chapter 7 of “The Journey – I wish I knew this before I was 21.” The whole education system is built around what society needs, not what makes you uniquely you.
Here’s what hit me hardest: We spend years learning to think like everyone else, then wonder why we feel lost in our twenties.
Horvath breaks down something called “individuation” – basically the process of figuring out your actual strengths instead of just following the path everyone expects you to take. He references William James on how your individual thoughts literally shape your reality.
The wild part? Most of what matters for real growth can’t be measured on tests. Love, intuition, natural ethics – none of that shows up on your transcript.
His “Law of the Harvest” concept is simple but brutal: You get what you plant. No shortcuts. But here’s the twist – most people are planting seeds in someone else’s garden.
The chapter walks you through visualization techniques and something called the Reticular Activation System. It’s basically your brain’s search engine, and most people have it set to “default mode” instead of “find my actual purpose.”
What I love about Horvath’s approach is he doesn’t sugarcoat failure. He reframes it as data collection for your unique journey.
If you’re tired of following scripts written by people who don’t know you, this chapter might be the reality check you need.
For more about Chapter 7 of Attila B. Horvath’s book, “The Journey – I wish I knew this before I was 21”, visit https://attilahorvath.net/the-journey.
