Last year about this time I was talking with a colleague about a major problem we were trying to solve with one of my Fortune 500 clients. I remember during that conversation wondering for the millionth time in my career what the heck the point was behind what I was doing and who I was doing it for. To summarize the conversation, my friend did not feel fulfilled even though I could not explain at the time why I did. I came to see later after I had left that client that I actually felt I was contributing to saving peoples jobs by solving the problem, while he was struggling to see that point of view.
This made me think about time spent. How do I spend time? How should I spend my time? How should a person spend their time?
A year later I was talking with one of my athletes about our career choices. We were talking about how to evaluate these and how they tie into the feeling of being fulfilled. It’s easy to get caught up in the small things from day to day and forget where you are pointed in this life. I think that fulfillment has a lot to do with your effect on this world. I believe that a person that feels fulfilled is a person extremely capable of having a positive effect on those around them.
I think we can all agree that time in traffic or the bar is not well spent. But if our career and in our lives if we are making lives better around us, I believe that is time well spent. If there is something you are good at and you pursue that to the best of your ability and you help others along the way, I believe you have spent your time well.
I believe this to be true regardless of your vocation. If it allows you to contribute to this world, you’re killin’ it, my friend.
A pretty solid human named Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Far and away, the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” He was dead on. There are lots of reasons to choose different paths in our lives. I believe choosing a path because of effect is a valiant pursuit. Which other allows you to have a positive effect on this world? Which path allows you to do what you are good at to help others? All vocations have mundane tasks, but that doesn’t devalue the pursuit or the life. If you can trace the choices you make back to fulfillment and to effect, I believe that the time that you spend, no matter how long that may be, will be well spent.
Coach Josh
@joshuadvik