No Permission Necessary

“Perhaps, if you’re fortunate, your job is in sync with your work. But most of the time, our work is something we have to fight for. It’s not something we’re given, or apply for. It’s what we choose to do. The change we seek to make, the people we seek to serve, the decisions we insist on being responsible for. Doing our work is a calling. Doing our job is an offer to follow someone else’s instructions.” -Seth Godin

To do meaningful work and have a great artistic experience…

You don’t need to be picked or ask for permission.

You just need to be willing to do all the same work if you were picked and permitted. Because at that point, you’d have to. Because it would be your job.

Instead, why not do it all just because you want to?

Ask yourself, “How far am I willing to take it solo?”

Find your anchor project. So many good and unexpected things will come your way once you do.

Be Intentional

“Intentionality fuels the master’s journey. Every master is a master of vision.” -George Leonard

“When you’re not intentional, life gets out of control. When you are intentional, life becomes manageable.” -John C. Maxwell

“Be careful not to lose sight of the divine presence in any of your actions. Never undertake any work or activity without first having lifted your mind to God and committing that activity to him with holy intentions. Do the same when you offer thanks for the outcome of all your actions. Always examine whether things unfolded in accord with the right intentions you had at the outset, and if you find anything defective, humbly ask the Lord for forgiveness with a firm resolution to amend your failings.” -Saint Pio of Pietrelcina

In the morning ask yourself, “What is my intention for today?” Perhaps it’s to be more patient, or have focus, or spread joy everywhere you can. Then throughout the day, especially as challenges arise, come back to that intention.

What you will realize is (a) just like meditation, this is an ongoing practice and (b) unlike outcomes, intentions are within your control. This provides you with some autonomy and agency, in a world filled with uncertainty.

Be intentional for anything you’re doing. It could be the smallest task, like say, brushing your teeth. Before you start brushing, ask yourself “What is my intention?” Then as you do it, just keep coming back to that intention. This helps you stay present, which boosts your mood and overall happiness.

I’ll leave you with this great quote from Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh:

Eat with gratitude. And when you put the piece of bread into your mouth, chew only your bread and not your projects, worries, fears, or anger. This is the practice of mindfulness. You chew mindfully and you know that you are chewing the bread, the wonderful nourishment of life. This brings you freedom and joy. Eat every morsel of your breakfast like that, not allowing yourself to be carried away from the experience of eating. This is a training. When you brush your teeth, how much time can you afford for brushing your teeth? At least one minute, maybe two? Brush your teeth in such a way that freedom and joy are possible, not allowing yourself to be carried away by concerns about what you will do after you are done. “I am standing here, brushing my teeth. I still have teeth to brush. I have toothpaste and a toothbrush. And my practice is to be alive, to be free to enjoy tooth-brushing.” Don’t allow yourself to be a slave of the past or the future. This practice is the practice of freedom. And if freedom is there, you will enjoy brushing your teeth. Resist the tendency to be carried away by your thoughts and fears.

Task-Switching Costs

“There is an ongoing battle between algorithmic mass distraction and focus. Excellence requires winning it.” -Brad Stulberg, book The Way Of Excellence

You may think you’re great at multitasking, but you’re not. No one is. We delude ourselves into thinking we are.

Brad Stulberg cites several studies in his book The Way Of Excellence, which reveal that “the consequence of multitasking is that the quality and, ironically, even the quantity of our work suffers.” He writes:

The costs of task-switching may seem trivial, sometimes requiring only a tenth of a second to go from one tab to another on a computer. But over time they add up. When you switch from task to task, it’s not just the physical act of shifting your gaze that consumes attention and energy but also the attention and energy required to transition your thinking and feeling.

My colleagues at the University of Michigan demonstrated that even seemingly innocuous multitasking, such as looking over to an on-screen advertisement while reading an article, can cannibalize as much as 40 percent of someone’s productive time. A study conducted out of King’s College in London found that persistent interruptions in our attention lead to a ten-point drop in IQ, or about twice the decrease one experiences after cannabis use and on par with what you’d expect after staying up all night.

Other research shows that scattering our attention also negatively impacts our emotional health. A study from Harvard University found that when people are fully present for what they are doing, they are much happier and more fulfilled than when they are thinking about something else. The more diffuse our attention, the more likely we are to feel angst, restlessness, and discontentment. “A wandering mind is an unhappy mind,” conclude the researchers.

Multitasking detracts not only from how we feel and what we do today but also our tomorrows. Over time, people who are chronic multitaskers become worse at filtering out irrelevant information and slower at identifying patterns, and they experience a decline in long-term memory. Not to mention, constantly switching and fragmenting our attention exhausts and depletes us, leaving us with less energy for what actually matters in life. If we fry our brain on the trivial, we cannot expect it to be fully present for the significant.

Unfortunately, for many people, fragmented attention has become the default way of existing. Research from the United Kingdom’s telecom regulator shows that the average person checks their phone every twelve minutes, and this doesn’t include instances when someone thinks about checking their phone but does not. Other research shows 71 percent of people never turn off their phones and 40 percent look at their phone within five minutes of waking up, and that’s apart from the alarm clock app.

The consequence of all this checking is that we are habituating ourselves to distraction. Gloria Mark, an attention researcher at the University of California, Irvine, and author of the book Attention Span, began studying people’s ability to focus in 2003. Back then, the average duration that someone could maintain deep attention was about two and a half minutes. Today, she says, that number is forty-seven seconds, and it’s only getting worse. We’ve been conditioned to believe that if we aren’t constantly being entertained or excited, if we aren’t looking back or thinking ahead, then something must be wrong. But the opposite is true: When we scatter our attention, when we are constantly interrupted and distracted, we become alienated from whatever it is we are doing. Excellence, and the deep satisfaction it brings, requires the ability to sustain focus. And the ability to sustain focus is increasingly becoming a competitive advantage in today’s world.

The counter to these switching costs?

Focus.

We must do everything we can to rebuild our focus and attention muscles. Mindfulness meditation, reading, walking, executing 1-3 deep focus blocks per day, and leaving our cell phones in other rooms are some suggested practices.

We’d also be wise to remember the ancient phrase, “Age Quod Adis” before engaging in any task. It translates to “Do what you are doing.”

The Game Of Life

“A finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the play. -James P. Carse, book Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility

“Games make us happy because they are hard work that we choose for ourselves, and it turns out that almost nothing makes us happier than good, hard work.”
― Jane McGonigal, book Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” -George Bernard Shaw

“It’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.” -Grantland Rice

“In the game of life, we must play what is dealt to us, and the glory consists, not so much in winning, but in playing a poor hand well.” -Josh Billings

“Pick your game carefully. Pick one that you’ll be glad you played even if you don’t get all the glory you hoped for.” -Gabe Andersen

Instead of looking at life as one problem after another to be solved, what if you looked at it as one long, infinite game to be played?

The goal?…To play it for as long as you can and play it as well as you can.

If we do this, then life becomes so much more exciting and enriching and fulfilling. We never stop growing, never stop learning, never stop having fun.

What a great life!

So, what’s holding you back? Start playing.

Just Right

For the actor…

As you’re working on the character, it’s important to fully explore both extremes. Go all the way to one pole and all the way to the other pole More often than not, that middle ground will be just right.

Let yourself experience “too hot.” Let yourself experience “too cold.”

Then, you will really know what “just right” is like and you can live in that space.

P.S. – A great note to give yourself is “split the difference.”

How To Keep “The Black Dog” Away

“Work norishes noble minds.” -Seneca

“Depression hates a moving target.” -George Mack

Feeling blah? Not sure what to do? Wanting to keep “The Black Dog” (aka Depression) from visiting you?

Stop thinking and start working. Especially something physical.

How about bricklaying? It worked for Winston Churchill (his daily regimen was “200 bricks and 2000 words”) and it can work for you.

P.S. – This article.

All In?

“Until one is committed there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.” -Scottish mountaineer and writer W. H. Murray

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” -Goethe

“Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe” -Saint Augustine

“When you walk across the fields with your mind pure and holy, then from all the stones, and all growing things, and all animals, the sparks of their soul come out and cling to you, and then they are purified and become a holy fire in you.” – ancient Hasidic Proverb

“As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.” -Rumi

Here’s the thing about going all in…

You have no idea if it will work.

There is no turning back.

You must throw your cap over the wall.

And the people, things and events you truly need to materialize for your success don’t actually show up until you’re all in. It’s blind faith.

So ask yourself, are you really all in?

No Turning Back

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say. -“The Walking Song” in The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our souls
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold, yeah
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last
When all is one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll, not to roll -“Stairway To Heaven” by Led Zeppelin

The road ahead to your desired destination will most assuredly not be straight.

It will be filled with all kinds of twists and turns that you didn’t anticipate. There will be long stretches where you will lose sight of the road or other stretches where you will feel like the road never ends.

You will feel like giving up and going home, especially because that road back is very clear and easy to navigate.

But don’t.

Don’t turn back.

Be a rock. Don’t roll.

Onward brave one. Forge ahead!