Do It Because It’s What You’re Here To Do

Dogged attachment to a specific outcome all too often screws us…

Scenario #1:

Hey, why are you writing a book?

Because, I want to get published. Then people will take me seriously. Millions of people will know what I’ve got to say. And they’ll see I’m an author. And I’ll build a huge career writing and speaking and traveling. This book is the key that will unlock my dreams. Oh, and Mr. Waddlesmith from 10th grade who said I was a no-talent moron…who’s the dummy now?! #suckit!

And, what if you write the whole book and nobody wants it?

Well, um, uh, then it’ll have been a year out of my life that I can’t get back. A massive letdown. Think of all the other stuff I could’ve done. It’ll suck. Big time. I’d be a total failure. Son of bitch, that Mr. Waddlesmith was right! #screwed

Scenario #2:

Hey, why are you writing a book?

Because, I’m a writer. I feel like that’s what I’m here to do. When I write, I feel. I light up. It’s like I’m doing what I was put here to do. Not all the time, but often enough to make me want to keep coming back and doing more of it. I feel a sense of alignment and purpose. And, besides, I’m pretty fascinated by this topic/story line and it’d be amazing to be able to spent a year doing a really deep dive on it and learning more. Oh, and I’ll have a book at the end, which is pretty cool too. #fulfilled

And, what if you write the whole book and nobody wants it?

Well, I guess that’d be a bit of a bummer. But hell, I’ll still have spent the last year doing what I’m meant to do and learning about something very cool. Including myself. Hopefully, someday I’ll get good enough at the craft for people to want to buy what I write. But even if they don’t, it’s still something I’d do just because of what it gives me along the way. #stillfulfilled

* * * * *

Viktor Frankl’s famed book, Man’s Search For Meaning, opens, a few pages in, with a powerful statement:

“Success, like happiness, cannot be pursued, it must ensue….In the long run, success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it.”

What if “meaning along the way” became your leading metric?

What if the only there that mattered was here now?

Something to ponder. I know I am…

With gratitude,

JF

(photo credit: CC Chapman)

+++ Jonathan Fields is a serial-entrepreneur, business strategist, speaker and author. His latest book is Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt Into Fuel For Brilliance. Fields writes about performance-mindset, innovation, leading and entrepreneurship at JonathanFields.com