Doing too Much of What You Love? January 29, 2007
Posted by The Probabilist in : [Articles], Creativity, Personal Growth, Purpose, Responsibility, Work, Abilities , 7 comments
Are you one of those guys who do too much of what you love to do? You get yourself occupied with something and spend 12 hours straight at it and don’t even notice how hungry you’ve gotten? After you’ve personally mastered a given ability or interest you seem to find another thing that again completely occupies your mind. If there’s a gene for this behaviour then I certainly have it. And I see it runs in my family as well.
When I read and did the excellent mental exercise presented by Brian Kim (How to Find What You Love to Do) I soon noticed that it’s quite pointless for me to list my abilities and interests, mainly because there are so many of them and moreover because I just can’t see myself doing the same thing for more than a couple of years at a time. I have to experiment and experience. I have to go find a new field with greener grass once the old one starts to lose its flavour.
I’ve never kept a journal, but after thinking it through I was able to chronologically list every major point of interest I’ve had since I was a wee child. Some lasted one month and some up to a year and a half. There’s not really anything remarkably significant about these things, but it goes to show a bit how a person and his interests evolve and what I’ve been into. It’s like a chain of synchronicities where some things have definitely been leading to another.
A blog is a personal log so I don’t mind who reads this stuff. But yes, I’ve obviously been a handful. No parent should have to raise a child constantly incapable of automatically and spontaneously doing any work around the house. But I guess I turned out all right in the end (miraculously enough). Some say it’s part of becoming an adult that you stop doing what you love to do. My guess is still that I’ll never find a reason to apply that statement into my life.
So how does one make a living doing what they love to do? Heck, I’d be a very rich man if I knew the universally true answer to that question. But there is a distinction of mind-sets found within this issue as well. Some people, like Steve Pavlina go through the process of hating being an employee and that drives a person to become self-employed.
I’ve never had anything against being an employee.
But being a business owner and investor sounds way smarter than insecurely working and making somebody else rich. Still, happiness certainly doesn’t statistically follow one line of work more than another. That is in the mind of every individual person and goes beyond what kind of labour one performs. But everyone has to provide value in some way, whether we love doing it or not. That’s why I had to drop several of my previous interests and start to focus on matters that seriously and genuinely make a positive difference in others’ lives. The bonus of teaching personal development is that you get your own fair share of learning as well, both spiritually, mentally and bodily.
My father is a great role model both doing what he loves to do and always finishing the must-dos of life. And he has certainly shown me the benefit that comes from constantly shifting the focus of what you love to do - for getting the most experience and lessons out of life. In return I’ve been a role model of living without any kinds of worries. We all come with different sets of strengths and a unique list of interests and abilities that shape the way we are today. However, finding a balance both with what we love to do and have to do should be found. Currently, I’m at a great level of balance in this light as I have the pleasure that comes from combining them together.
If there’s only one thing in life that you can combine with both loving and having to do, then by all means do that for the rest of your life. If you can’t make a similar list of what you’ve done in the past 10-20 years then you’re most likely one of them. But make sure that you do find what it is and make sure it doesn’t completely blow your mind away, leaving your body without sufficient attention. It’s the only you’ve got so take good care of it too. This is one of the latest lessons I’ve had to learn and I hope it sounds meaningful for you to follow as well it has been for me. Remember that there are those of us who want to change the point of interest constantly and it’s just as natural as for those who find one true purpose that lasts a lifetime. Always having at least one thing in life that you love doing is a medicine for the soul that keeps you healthy, happy, fortunate, blessed and without worry.
(No Ratings Yet)
Acres of Diamonds
Posted by The Probabilist in : [Books], Entrepreneurship, Financial Literacy, Commodities, Vision, Wealth, Assets, History , 1 comment so far
Dr. Russell Conwell’s Acres of Diamonds is actually a lecture that he is recorded to have held over 6,000 times. Summing up at 40 pages, this book can also be found as a free e-book at various personal development internet sources.
It starts off with several stories where the main character is ignited with a spark of trying their luck to find wealthy lands filled with resources like gold, diamonds, oil or silver. In every single case, no matter from where this person starts out or where he ends up seeking treasures, he fails miserably. However, the successor who takes over the farm or homestead of the person that sold it all in order to leave and strike it rich, finds loads of the very same form of riches in that particular area of land that was left behind. The moral of these stories is that one should first take a look at what one has, because the acres of diamonds might be there right under our noses.
Continuing on, Conwell expresses his thoughts and responses to the common questions, objections and misconceptions about wealth. Among them he points out that:
While every word in the book is that of wisdom, I discovered something of a minor flaw in the introduced stories. Whenever a person went to seek a fortune and left behind a piece of land that turned out to be filled with riches, the successor that discovered the riches actually did the very same thing! They didn’t stay where they were, they were in the lookout for something better as well. They just happened to strike it rich just as the main characters envisioned for themselves. I don’t believe in hiding facts and exploiting opportunities by scheming, but there were nothing of the sorts involved in these stories. Nevertheless, I say wealth can be created anywhere, but there’s a great deal of experience to be gained if one travels the world a bit as well. AoD is a good read, although I suggest you try find this copy someplace for free.
(No Ratings Yet)
