Achieving without praise

We sometimes confuse our motivation to pursue goals or new adventures with our desire for praise.  These questions help decide whether you truly want to run a marathon, travel the world, go on a meditation retreat or (insert activity here):

1) Am I more excited about the achievement/activity or about announcing it? 2) Would I still want to do it if I couldn’t tell anyone about it?

I’m not criticizing broadcasting accomplishments.  Please do!  Many of us are cheering for you. The questions are merely tools to help clarify your true aspirations.

To be or to have

Too often we believe that life will improve once we “have” (obtain) something.  We can, however, flip this and focus on “being” before having.

If you want to have an outstanding partner, work on being someone worthy of an outstanding partner.  If you want to have a better job, take steps to be someone with the skills and work ethic consistent with better employment.

Don’t wait to acquire something.  Don’t wait to be picked by someone else.  You can work on you before anything happens.

Learning from triage

In medical terms, triage is the prioritizing of patients’ needs based on the severity of their conditions.  This wisdom that can also be applied to non-urgent, non-medical circumstances. Intentionally neglecting hundreds of possible uses of attention to focus on what’s most essential is strategic and effective.  In fact, it’s careless not to do so.

Most of my failures and screw-ups aren’t caused by lack of skill, time, or persistence, but a failure to prioritize.