I'm Confused. Does Life Purpose/material Desires Take Precedent Over Enlightenment?

[NotKnowing]

Life purpose takes many years to accomplish - so does enlightenment.

Do I actualize my life purpose after many years - and then pursue enlightenment, or do I make finding my existential true self my first priority and then my life purpose will follow after? Is it even a practical strategy to pursue both? If I was pursuing both at the same time, which of these would take higher precedence - actualizing my life purpose or enlightenment?

In addition to that, my personal life has a lot of holes. I have many flaws and things left unfulfilled. For example: I've never gotten in a relationship, I don't have very many friends. 

-       My question is: shouldn't I go through the motions of fulfilling and satisfying my material desires - like learning social skills and making friends, improving my self-esteem and confidence, going through and enjoying university life, getting into a relationship, improving my public speaking (my life purpose) and maybe perhaps getting to know the joys of raising a family or traveling in the future - before I ultimately unplug and drop go of all those desires to go out and search for my true existential self? 

Which one has a higher importance here - realizing my life purpose/material desires or enlightenment? What is the optimum strategy here if my goal in life is to live the most satisfying and fulfilling life possible - the self-actualized life? I'm very open and willing to listen, and consider every opinion. 

I'm 18 years old yet I know that my life is short and I feel like I'm going through a midlife crisis. My apologies for being neurotic and asking a barrage of rapid-fire questions. 

[Leo Gura]

How can anyone decide for you what's right for you?

The optimum strategy depends on what your heart calls you to do in this life.

[Tancrede Pouyat]

You're confused ? Good ! I get confused too  Hell, I can't even keep track of how many times I get scared. 

I've always found that when breaking bad habits, it's good to project them into the future, because that way I can link poison to them and it gives me leverage to quit them. So maybe you can do the same. Try to imagine what it would be like to meditate for 12 hours a day, and then do the same for Life Purpose work, and see what resonates with you the most, see what's most authentic to you  

[Sri McDonald Trump Maharaj]

I really feel you on this one... Ultimately DOING will only hurt you, BEEING will kill you and you are caught in the middle. Maybe you should meditate some more and spend more time alone, unplug from stimuli and see what your heart wants after a week?  

[NotKnowing]

9 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

How can anyone decide for you what's right for you?

The optimum strategy depends on what your heart calls you to do in this life.

I almost forgot I had a thing called intuition. Thanks for reminding me and getting me back in touch with it!

1 hour ago, Tancrede Pouyat said:

Try to imagine what it would be like to meditate for 12 hours a day, and then do the same for Life Purpose work, and see what resonates with you the most, see what's most authentic to you  

1 hour ago, Sri McDonald Trump Maharaj said:

I really feel you on this one... Ultimately DOING will only hurt you, BEEING will kill you and you are caught in the middle. Maybe you should meditate some more and spend more time alone, unplug from stimuli and see what your heart wants after a week?  

I feel like sitting down and meditating more frequently for longer periods of time will alleviate my turbulent mind, and help me get a feel for what is most important. Experimenting with both types of work and seeing which path has more heart is also a viable strategy to incorporate. Thanks for the advice.