Chasing Moby Dick is not your passion
When to ignore “successful” people and do what excites you most
If you’re reading this, there is a good chance you are not chasing a whale… Nor planning to do so anytime soon.
But you are surrounded by people who are so good at what they do, so good you can’t ignore them.
If you’ve heard the speech of a Nobel Prize winner, a self-made entrepreneur, or if you’ve watched Simone Biles in the Olympics, you will know exactly what I’m talking about.
Their accomplishments make you feel small. So much so that this happens:
You now want to become “just like them”.
Or as Captain Ahab would put it: we start chasing Moby Dick for reasons we don’t even remember anymore.
If that thing is what you “really” want to do, then just go and do that.
But most of us need to take a step back, breathe and ponder upon what really matters.
“By working only when you are most effective,
life is both more productive and more enjoyable.
It’s the perfect example of having your cake and eating it, too.”
The way of less: cultivating space in your life
When you don’t know how much money you want, the default becomes more. When you don’t know what really matters, the default becomes everything. The distractions kick in. And we subconsciously take on other people’s battles.
Regularly, most of us say YES to things we don’t even like. We try to please people who don’t even know.
And we sometimes do it either: carelessly, out of custom, out of greed, out of vague attraction or just because we’re bored as hell. We think it’ll make us accomplish more when in reality we accomplish less (if anything at all).
And then we complain about how busy we are.
Sure, most of us are busy, … but what is really getting done?
The truth is:
There’s only one way to get more done. And it’s this: Do less
Cultivate space in your life. Cut the fat! Cut the distractions! Do less!
Not out of laziness (and if that’s how people see it then just let it be) but out of choice.
When you start saying NO to most things, you have more space for the things that actually matter.
Or as Derek Sivers puts it, the things you say “Hell Yeah!” to whenever you think about them. The things that get you excited!
So, the rule is simple: before you put the next thing in your goals or new year resolutions, if you’re feeling anything less than “That would be AWESOME!” then your default response should be as short as a “NO!”.
“It’s either Hell Yeah! or No!” — Derek Sivers
Just say NO. And you don’t have to explain it anymore, or say that you need to take care of your dog, or that he’s celebrating his birthday.
We can all get caught in the busy trap, and the only way out is to do less and do it better.
And this is as simple as it sounds. And yet… we always forget. Now, that you’re not busy anymore, do the stuff that only you can: Make good art!
Hugs, kisses and all the good stuff :)
Ismail
PS: what’s something that you got caught up doing for no apparent reason? Let me know in the comments ;)
