Finding Fulfillment in Doing What You Love: A New Approach to Life and Work
You already know this, or if you don't, you'll learn it soon enough: our lives do not simplify the more successful we get. The more successful we get, the more things come at us and at an alarming speed. As I've mentioned before, our society thrives on productivity, even at the expense of the happiness that should naturally come from it. Let's be productive and happy at the same time. Some call this the work-life balance, but there is stress because we have two things happening: work and life. What if we embraced a new concept of work-life integration? Instead of being divided houses, we can unite our lives with our work. This way, we can live and express who we are and who we were meant to be, without the pressure of maintaining a delicate balance.
We often have too little time to do everything when too much comes at us. But here's the empowering truth: life was not meant to be lived only on weekends, with the latter part of Sunday dreading what is coming on Monday. Life does not want us to spend our days doing what we do not love. So, what's the solution? It's about choosing to do what you love, do that well, and do it as efficiently as possible. This is not about cramming productivity down life's throats but empowering yourself to do more things you love. By prioritizing your passions in your work, you can find more fulfillment and satisfaction in your daily life. Doesn't this sound more enticing?
Imagine yourself as a glass of water. You can only hold so much. Yet, if we're not careful, we can spend our lives trying to pour a gallon of water into a quart beer stein. No matter how you pour it, it will overflow and make a mess, much like our emotions in the same situation. This is a struggle many of us face, and it's important to recognize our limits and find a more sustainable approach.
So, how do you keep yourself from spilling over? You set your agenda doing the things you love (and this may take time to achieve if you are not already doing it), you make your agenda an extension of your life and the things that you love, and you find contentment in what you can achieve on any given day. You move with purpose rather than speed, finding your happiness in your inner litmus and the topic and quality of your work rather than from exteriorly generated criteria. You say that is impossible, but it is no more impossible than the impossibility that brought you to where you are right now. The only thing working against you is that the farther down the wrong road you are, the longer it will take you to walk back to the right road. Other than that, you're good to go if you choose.
If you are practicing one of these traditional time management and productivity tools, let me know if they work. You keep a calendar so you can stay on schedule. You prioritize items into an A, B, and C list so you can only work on the A tasks. You have a to-do list for today, so you can check off everything you need to accomplish. You create a mission statement to keep you focused, though how does this help you manage the one-hundred-fifty-three emails you got today? How about working smarter and not harder? If you're honest, none of these five works. Any of them is subject to deflation by a phone call from your boss, a disrupting email, a child with the sniffles you need to pick up from school, or anything else you care to add. Sometimes schedules, rated tasks, to-do lists, and mission statements can be stressors. Though all have value, valuing them is not the key. The key is valuing what you love. If you love what you are doing, then the things that throw you off track are the only things you enjoy doing.
Time management is essential. However, managing the quality of what you do within your time management is priceless, for this is the essence of your life. What does all this mean to a writer? It means writing the best book and marketing it to the best of your ability. If these two things do not fill you with joy, you are not meant to be a writer, but you are meant to be happy; do something else. But if these things make you happy, then it's time to make a change if you are not doing them. Like the fellow who took the wrong road, stop right now, turn around, and start the walk (maybe even a long walk) back, knowing now where your happiness lies. This is about finding fulfillment in doing what you love, not just ticking off tasks on a to-do list.
Again, life is not meant to be lived only on weekends; you may need to change to discover that.
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