There Will be Blood, Sweat and Tears
More Thoughts On Purpose (10)
Far and away the best prize that life offers
is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.
— Theodore Roosevelt
HI FRIENDS
Sometimes when we are looking for more purpose and passion and meaning in our work, we can get stuck wondering where our passion for life is hiding. In this place, we can feel so tired of life altogether that just to try and think of some activities that we enjoy is frankly impossible.
But fear not. We want the positive things like fun and enjoyment to guide us because we expect that meaningful and purposeful work is characterised by fun or success or easy self-expression. When really, it’s far more about sweat and blood and grit and tears.
And that’s a good thing, because we know that real work is costly. It costs us our time, energy, effort and attention. It’s what we are giving our lives to at any given moment. And so it can be helpful to look for meaningful work with a more realistic outlook - through the lens of sacrifice, rather than satisfaction or serenity.
Whether you are aware of it or not, there are some kinds of activities and subjects which are engaging and absorbing and interesting to you, but for others, those exact same tasks would feel like a form of Chinese water torture - as the hand of the clock drips along painfully.
We’re all so different in what we find worthwhile.
I think of these internet sleuths who spend their spare time on Reddit forums, tracking down clues that will solve that 50 year cold case for no monetary reward.
Or the UFC fighter who beats her body into submission through brutal training and weight cuts, all to walk into a ring, face down a giant and possibly lose.
Who are these aliens? Well you are an alien too in your own way, you just need to see it.
What’s the difference between us that makes us find different kinds of work worth all of the effort that we have to put in? It’s hard to say exactly what the difference is except that it is something to do with sacrifice. For some reason, we find certain tasks to be worthwhile - worth all of the effort and energy put in for the satisfaction of the outcome or the process itself.
So when the choices are overwhelming, and you can’t answer “what do I enjoy?” Instead ask yourself a more humble question:
Which type of work that I do (or could do) would almost make the effort it takes worthwhile?
The question is not which type of activities are easiest, but which type of work is the most worth it.
Following the answer to this question may just be the first step you need in the direction of work that engages your deepest motivations and passions.
Godspeed,
T Mo
EXERCISE REVIEW:
SPARKETYPES EXPRESSIONS INVENTORY
Did anyone else try out this exercise I shared in last weeks post? I’d love to hear from you!
After spending a relatively short time on this, overall I found it to be useful. A veritable thumbs up from T Mo.
The purpose of the exercise is to look through all the different categories of work that you’ve done in your life, then pick out the most fulfilling and, hopefully, you’ll begin to recognise overlaps of the kinds of activities and style of work that really “sparks” you, but completely separated from traditional career categories.
Even though I’ve already done quite a lot of reflective work on this, I still found that it drew out some useful insights for me. In particular I noticed how conversation plays a big role in the moments when I’m most engaged in my work.
But I think it can be improved. It needs a final step with just an extra question or two which helps pick out the commonalities across the various fields of work. I’ll let you know if I come up with something.
