This blog marks my commitment to THE PRACTICE.
The Practice of doing the work to create something from nothing and ship it into the world.
This vernacular of “shipping,” i.e., to publish your work and gift it to the world in order to connect with others comes from Seth Godin.
I have spent WAY too much time reading, thinking, listening, and then thinking some more about so many principles, concepts, and ideas and far too little time turning this thinking into something that I regularly articulate with the world.
I am committed to changing that.
The reason why is to further live in alignment with my WHY: To EQUIP people to become extraordinary lifelong learners about themselves, others, and their pursuits, so that they are more capable of living INTERESTING, FULFILLING, and MEANINGFUL lives.
INTERESTING:
12 years ago, my Japanese language professor at Whitman College advised me to always be in pursuit of living an “interesting life.” Interesting in Japanese is Omoshiroi. I have always loved, and consequently, overused the word “interesting.” What I love about the word is how multi-purposeful and encompassing its meaning is. In Japanese this is intuitively understood because when saying Omoshiroi you are often also implying the word “amusing.” The antoynym in Japanese is Tsumaranai, which means “dull.” When we think about something as interesting in contrast to it being dull, we are capable of gaining a new appreciation for how valuable that of interest is.
Steven Kotler, Author and creator of The Flow Genome project, has this wonderful saying:
“Motivation gets you in the game, learning keeps you there, creativity lets you steer, and flow supercharges the whole experience.”
If motivation gets you in the game, then interest precedes motivation, and, then, continually feeds your desire to keep playing! “Interesting,” in my opinion, is also a stand in for “diversity.” My philosophy about growth and performance is that the more diversity of expertise the better. Moreover, I believe that one’s ability to be psychologically flexible and behaviorally adaptable is dependent on how “interesting” one’s life is.
FULFILLING:
“Fulfillment isn’t another word for happiness. All kinds of things make us happy at work: hitting a goal, getting a promotion, landing a new client, completing a project–the list goes on. But happiness is temporary; the feeling doesn’t last. Nobody walks around energized by the memory of a goal hit twelve months ago. That intensity passes with time. Fulfillment is deep. Fulfillment lasts. The difference between happiness and fulfillment is the difference between liking something and loving something”
Sinek, Mead, Docker–Find Your Why
If living an interesting life feeds your ability to be psychological flexible and behaviorally adaptable, then fulfillment is what provides you with that sense of warm satiation, which nurtures your emotional wellbeing.
MEANINGFUL:
A meaningful life is a life that is in service of something bigger than oneself. It is about giving versus taking. It is a life led with an infinite mindset; therefore, ambition is an opportunity for you to GIVE, as opposed to GET. While your life is finite, life is infinite, and you, we, all have a wonderful opportunity to leave this world better than we found it. Our legacies are infinite. What will yours be?
See you tmw 🙂
