Why Are You Doing This?

Last post, I shared with you my best strategy for deciding which task to work on next. You can read it here.
So, once you figure out which tasks to work on next, how do you keep track of your big picture while working on your daily tasks.
It’s so easy to get lost in the detail, and to stop in the middle of a long and challenging task to wonder: why am I doing this?
And that was the question I asked myself on the morning of my 30th birthday, after having survived a near death car accident the night before. I was still shaky from the experience, but I was also feeling a renewed sense of purpose and gratitude: I was given another chance at life, and I didn’t want to waste it.
So I sat down and wrote a detailed vision for where I wanted to be in 5 years. I imagined myself running a successful online business, waking up every day to work on the things that I cared about, without having to rush out the door in the morning to commute to work, and without having to spend my day answering urgent emails and being pulled into random meetings.
I imagined my income being independent from my time, having the freedom to choose the projects I work on (even if they aren’t expected to make money), and being able to create value once and get paid for it thousands of times.
I even visualized the detail of the apartment I would be living in, and the car I would be driving.
I had written similar visions before. That time, I wanted that vision to happen so badly. So I printed it out, pinned it to the wall in front of my desk, and created a reminder to review it on a regular basis.
Every day, after my morning meditation, I read those pages, occasionally making changes and updates, then closed my eyes, and imagined that vision already happening, and even feeling grateful for it (gratitude is a great tool to infuse your vision with emotions, so that it’s not just mind stuff).
Not only did this help me decide which tasks to work on, it also kept going when things got tough, helped me get up when I failed, and renewed my focus when I was getting distracted.
By reminding myself of where I wanted to go on a daily basis, I only did the things that helped me get there, and I always knew why I was doing them.
I won’t bore you with too much detail, but in 2013, I was reviewing my vision when I realized I was exactly in that place I had described in those pages: I had quit my day job, did freelancing and consulting for a couple of years, created Keynotopia, moved to a high rise apartment in San Francisco, bought my dream car, and finally had the freedom to work on projects I liked, without having to answer to a manager, or do work to please a client.
And I would be lying if I said I knew exactly why this works…
Perhaps regularly visualizing something with intense focus sets in motion some invisible force that makes it manifest. Perhaps that practice shifts the vision from the conscious to the subconscious mind, which controls 95% of our lives, so we’re programming ourselves to make decisions that perfectly align with that vision, even when we’re not consciously thinking about it. And perhaps focusing repeatedly on a vision helps the reticular activating system in our brains identify the opportunities and tasks that help us get there.
But I do know that it works, because it has worked many times over in my life.
I know that it requires no special skills, other than the discipline to dedicate the time to writing that vision and reviewing it on a daily basis.
And I know that, when it works, it feels like magic, and it makes me wonder why most people aren’t using that option.
If you’ve followed the steps in the previous post, you should have a simple vision for what you want to do, and where you want to be in the next couple of years. I highly recommend printing it, and placing it where you can review it on a regular basis (ideally every morning and evening for the first 30 days).
If you do that exercise for 10–15 minutes every morning, you will find yourself starting to eliminate from your life many distractions and time-wasting activities that don’t help you accomplish your visions. You will also find it much easier to remember the reason for why you’re doing a specific task, and how it’s helping you get closer to your visions.
For extra credit, review your vision again at night, right before going to bed, so your subconscious is working on it in your sleep.
I want to leave you with a quote from one of my favorite books, Siddhartha:
When you throw a rock into the water, it will speed on the fastest course to the bottom of the water. This is how it is when Siddhartha has a goal, a resolution. Siddhartha does nothing, he waits, he thinks, he fasts, but he passes through the things of the world like a rock through water, without doing anything, without stirring; he is drawn, he lets himself fall. His goal attracts him, because he doesn’t let anything enter his soul which might oppose the goal. This is what Siddhartha has learned among the Samanas. This is what fools call magic and of which they think it would be effected by means of the daemons. Nothing is effected by daemons, there are no daemons. Everyone can perform magic, everyone can reach his goals, if he is able to think, if he is able to wait, if he is able to fast.
Note: While I love the wisdom and truth in this quote, I don’t believe “doing nothing” is the best way to achieve a goal. Trust me, I’ve tried!
Now that you know what to work on next, and how to keep an eye on your big picture, the final step is to create a system that guarantees accomplishing your big picture in an automatic and almost effortless way.
Read about it here .
