Finding Fulfilling Pursuits
Pursuing worthwhile and meaningful progress on things that matter.
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To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Feeling stuck is terrible.
There’s nothing worse than when our actions feel independent of our outcomes and no matter what we do we don’t feel like we’re making any progress.
Often, we’re not clear enough about what we’re pursuing or what progress looks like.
When we’re unsure, we always feel stuck. We have no roadmap to reinforce our actions and reassure ourselves that we’re on the right path.
If everything feels futile, we usually give up and there’s very little progress to be made if we’re not trying at all.
Right Pursuit, Wrong Reasons
When we feel lost and stuck we begin searching for guidance.
We start looking for teachers, mentors, or anyone else who looks like they have accomplished something meaningful and feel a sense of pride in their lives.
There are countless wonderful role models we can find and emulate and countless bad ones too.
When we’re feeling hopeless and searching for someone else’s footsteps to follow, it becomes easy to choose a meaningful pursuit for the wrong reasons.
As an increasing number of people are joining the business of capturing our attention in exchange for advertising dollars. There are more recommendations, courses, and philosophies being shared with the masses now than ever before.
As a result, it’s easier than ever to pursue something in our lives because it’s socially acceptable or because we want to be exactly like the person sharing their life online who looks like they have it all figured out.
In these cases, we rarely consider our values or the broader impact of our actions before adopting the goals and lifestyles of others as our own.
Instead, we simply see something that looks better than our current situation and begin pursuing it in the hopes of capturing the same outcomes.
In some cases, this might help us feel like we are moving our lives forward, but in many cases, it just traps us in the pursuit of something superficial.
Meaningful and Worthwhile
To be truly confident in our pursuits and feel the thrill of progress, we need to be pursuing things that are inherently worthwhile and personally meaningful.
We can pursue something inherently worthwhile, like our health and fitness that isn’t personally meaningful to us, and feel the same sense of hopelessness.
If we’re getting healthy just because it’s what we’re supposed to do and that’s not enough for us to feel like we’re moving ourselves forward in a meaningful way.
We can also pursue something meaningful, like our social status that’s not inherently worthwhile, and still feel the same dull monotony knowing we’re progressing in something that isn’t worth our time in the first place.
If however, we can make progress in a pursuit that is both inherently worthwhile and personally meaningful then we can enjoy the quiet confidence and self-assuredness that come along with it.
Our efforts will be rewarded with a clear sense that where we want to be is a worthwhile place and we’re moving closer to it every day.
Prompts
When was the last time you felt stuck? Were you pursuing anything in particular?
What are you pursuing today? Is it meaningful? Is it worthwhile?
What’s more important to you, that what you’re pursuing is personally meaningful or inherently worthwhile?
Deep Dive
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us - Daniel H. Pink
Pink argues that we perform best and feel satisfied when we direct our own lives.
Thanks for reading! I’ll see you next Sunday.
Kevin