It’s not about finding the work you love as much as it is finding a set of problems you like to solve and are able to get re-energized for.
I know great musicians who have turned into great real estate agents. Agents into stock brokers. Stock brokers into teachers. Teachers into project managers and so on…
It’s the thing underneath the thing you do that is driving the ship.
We need it.
We fight so hard to get rid of it but we need it in our lives.
Unpredictability keeps us sharp. Keeps us innovating. Stretches our minds. Creates tension and release. Creates connection.
It’s why groups are good. Whether it’s a music group, sports group, church group, work group, neighborhood group…adding people to our day to day life adds the unpredictability we need for growth.
Here’s what you have to give up in order to have a group…
The ideal group.
There might be times where it seems the ideal group has been attained…and then it get’s a little too…big, small, lazy, disconnected, hard charging, exclusive, inclusive, boring, needy…but despite it’s shortfalls, it’s a real life group, a team, a cohort.
You give up the ideal group, the imagined group, the hypothetical group…but in exchange you get an actual group. It it isn’t ideal, it’s not everything you’ve dreamed of…but it’s real.
»» Don’t let the idea of not having the ideal group hold you back from starting, contributing, keeping and growing a group
Lifting fifty pounds is the same whether you’re in a gym or in the corner of your living room.
It’s the same whether you’re wearing a high tech shirt or an old t-shirt.
It’s the same whether the weights are new and shiny or old and dirty.
Lift the weight. That’s the point. The other stuff is fun but don’t let the other stuff keep you from lifting the weight.
It’s amazing the difference between standing still on stage and simply tapping your toes.
And there’s a lot of times it’s a good idea to do more than tap your toes, but going from nothing to tapping is a big deal.
It’s kinda like going from brushing your teeth zero times a day to once a day.
A little something does a lot more than nothing.
They’re not easy to come by but there are certain aspects of life and careers where there’s a proven plan. A step by step guide to get from here to there. It’s still not easy but the road has been travelled many times before, so just stick with it.
And it’s wonderful, but here’s the often overlooked catch…
After you’ve achieved the proven plan, the only next move is to make up a non proven plan. A plan where it’s going to be hard AND it’s impossible to know for sure if it’s going to work. It’s unproven. It’s back to being scary.
It would be fun to be able to jump from proven plan to proven plan. But eventually the plan runs out of proof. And you have to keep moving anyway.