Maintaining the Rage

So, maybe the title overstated. This is about our passions. It’s about caring about the things we care about.

These are the things that get us up in the morning. Or at least they used to. Wouldn’t it be easier if life was just black and white, care or don’t care, passion or indifference? In truth, for most of us, it’s probably more like a melange of grey. We compromise, tweak, water-down, re-prioritise and sometimes we just give up. But if we look at people that have made a significant change in the world they were pretty clear and focused on achieving something.

Steve Jobs used to look in the mirror every morning and asked himself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer was “No” for too many days in a row, he knew he needed to change something.

Wow! Measuring each day based on life goals, that’s pretty intense. Steve was obviously a man who has never done timesheets in his life.

But the theory is really good: How do we find a way to bring us back to our life goals? How do we find a way to bring those big, audacious, ‘on my deathbed’ goals into the everyday? Some people find help in meditation or a chat with a friend or mentor. Others find a natural reset in holidays or something that energises and takes them out of the daily grind. And that’s the key for me — perspective. Taking the situation out of the ‘got to get all of this stuff done today’ and thinking about the bigger picture. Perspective also is one of those amazing things that works both ways too. It can drive us to reach for goals but it can also give us a release and refocus. Is this worth it? Am I throwing everything into a battle when the war is passing me by?

Even if it’s not an everyday thing and we only take stock once a month or even every year it’s such an important thing to do. Because when done right, you either have a clear pathway for things that need to change in your life, or you realise that things are going along pretty well and you might just need to recognise it more.

I’m off to ask some questions of a mirror.