Learn: The most important question, success metric, creating

Read: 3 mins

Greetings from Austin,

After a year south of the border, I'm back in Austin for a little bit.

While I value travel and exploration, I also value community and connection.

Here are 3 goodies to help unlock more of what you value most.

❓The most important question

I heard a podcast recently talk about what they described as (and I agree) what may be the most important question in the world…

“Why do so many people spend so much of their time on things they don’t like doing?”

They went on to discuss a few reasons why. 1) How most people don’t often understand their true desires. And 2) how the fear of losing things is often stronger than the desire to gain.

But of course, when we point the finger outward at someone else, we still have three pointing back at us. So maybe better to ask ourselves: “What do I enjoy doing? And how do I do more of it?”

Simple enough? 

Quick example to help spark some ideas for you. I recently realized how much I enjoy connecting with people, specifically via my podcast (the what). And now I have an editor to help me make the process easier (the how). 

What are yours? (hit reply and let me know)

✅ Success Metrics 

In 2019, Gallup surveyed Americans asking: “How do you personally define success?”

97% agreed with the following statement: a person is successful if they have followed their own interests and talents to become the best they can be at what they care about most.

Sound nice. But here’s where it gets interesting. 

When asked “How do you think OTHERS define success?” only 8% gave that same answer. 

So 92% felt other people defined success as: a person is successful if they are rich, have a high-profile career, or are well-known.

What gives? 

We like the idea of following our own interests/talents to become the best we can be (intrinsic motivation) but at the end of the day we of course care what people think too (extrinsic motivation). 

It just so happens that if we pursue the inward mission and become the best we can be… chances are we get the external stuff too. Yet it doesn’t work the other way around. 

Maybe worth revising the what and how from above?

Sources: Paul Millerd and Gallup.

✍️ Creating

It’s natural to look to others to figure out what we want inside. But as Albert Einstein said:

“There comes a point in your life when you need to stop reading other people's books and write your own.”

Today is where your book begins. The rest is still unwritten…

Salud,

Mitchell