Thinking and Finding Balance in The New 3
Having just gotten over a mild cold, I am still feeling a little odd today. Like my head is not really attached to the rest of my body after all, and the deadlines I have at work are merely suggestions. That last part is actually a good feeling, though it is not likely very accurate. Obviously, I need to pull it together.
In order to get through today, I am going to have to prioritize my work so that it matches my needs. Though they are deeply connected, today I am focusing on my needs and not the needs of my employer. How am I going to worry first about my needs AND get my job done to my employer’s satisfaction? How can I balance what I want to do with what I have to do? In no order, I thought of three really important words.
Focus on Ambition
When I started writing this, I had “Focus on Time” listed here. Possibly, that is because Time seems to be the great restriction of not only our lives, but most likely of the lives of all of the people who have ever had any ambition. Usually, the only thing that stops people with ambition is failure.
It is ok to fail, so long as you do not feel like a failure. Ambitions should not end until abilities end. The trick is to always find new ways to do something that has not worked in the past. It may feel kind of like being the first person to try to recreate fire sometimes, but the effort you put into discovery for one project may spawn a solution, or even better, another project. Put you into your creations.
Focus on Caring
Don’t be a jerk. Really – there is no need for it. I have known people who have said to me that they believe that the only way to find success is by fooling people into giving them money. Their rationale included another belief – that all of the big companies with their R&D departments would always beat the little guy. I always wonder where these people believe the big companies came from in the first place.
If you want to make a difference in life, you need to solve a problem, and that requires caring about something or someone. And don’t just focus on trying to care about other people in general. That is a road too wide. Instead, focus on caring about specific groups of people at different times. It really does not seem likely that you can focus on everyone at the same time and have any really meaningful results anyway.
Focus on Creation
How much time do you have to finish? That is the hard, at least for part for me. Sometimes worrying about the amount of time left is crippling. What if I finish without putting enough time into a project? Will the project suck? Probably. Where can you find balance?
Once you know what you want to accomplish (ambition), and how you want to effect people with it (caring), you will need to spend as much time as it takes to do these two things. There is no magic and there is no certainty. There is only what you create. Work that you love is worth the time that it takes, and if you focus on your ambitions and the people who matter in your life, then you will find the right combination.
By allowing yourself to be creative, ambitious, and caring you can find balance.
Your Turn
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Twitter: AndBreak
said:
I agree most people with ambition are stopped by failure or because they don’t want to leave their comfort zone. But only leaving your comfort zone means being able to grow.
Just my thoughts. Cool blog by the way
.-= Julius Kuhn-Regnier´s last blog ..3 Exotic SEO Strategies for Your Website =-.
Hi Julius -
I agree, of course. I tend to set high goals and it has served me well in the past.
Learning how to balance the ability to not give up with the ability to understand other people in times when your ideas may be misguided is also important.
Thanks for stopping by!
Twitter: bigredtomato
said:
This is interesting. All too often people focus on need. ie. what they need to do. If they focused on what would advance the goals or ambition, then the focus, I suspect, would be completely different.
Hope you’re soon feeling better!
.-= Matthew Needham´s last blog ..What you can learn from chefs =-.
Hi Matthew –
You make a good point – thinking about how your decisions effect your long term goals is quite important.
Thank you very much for the visit and have a great night!