I try and think back to a time when you had to accomplish something that was not very exciting, maybe a dull, boring job, and think about how frustrated that made you feel. Now, contrast that with doing something that's invigorating, something that really feels important, like your life's purpose. Can you see the contrast between those two emotions?
What if we could have more moments in life like the second one where we are on a mission, rather than being just consumed by drudgery? Well, it certainly leads to overall greater satisfaction in life, doesn't it? Now, is it possible to do that? Well possible, yes. Perhaps difficult, but it is possible for you and for me to get more satisfaction and more purpose out of our lives.
And how do we do it? Well, there are a few tips that can really help us. One is to realize that our energies and our resources are finite. It's called modesty. It's an awareness of our limitations. You see, if we think we can do everything, then we're gonna take on tasks, maybe too many tasks that are low value, and we might do it because we feel like we have to, or other people are pressuring us.
But the bottom line is we take on those tasks and then we find ourselves exhausted and we don't even have energy left for the things that really matter to us. In life. So learn the superpower of saying no, just simply don't take on too many low-value tasks.
So, so how might we actually accomplish that? Well, one tip is to learn to delegate. In fact, a lot of successful people said that that was a breakthrough when they learned that they could ask other people to do the things that they didn't find fulfilling. That other people were, would be willing to do those things, that that was a turning point in their life, and they began to really make progress at accomplishing the things that were important to them.
So, look for who can do it. Instead of asking how we can do something, just ask yourself the question, who, who could I delegate this to? And what that means, is that if we're not really that excited to mow our own lawn, or we don't really enjoy doing our own taxes, possibly, those are things that we could ask other people to do for us.
And when we do, then we'll have energy for the things that really matter to us and the things that we can do that only we can do for ourselves.
Number two, see through the mundane. train yourself to see that bigger picture on the other side. So there are a lot of tasks that we have to do in life that are not really all that satisfying, but if we can make a connection in our brains to something that is worthy of our attention. Now we may have the energy to do it.
In fact, there's that story about the men that were all involved in excavating. They're all digging in the dirt and all of them are demoralized and not that productive except for one man. He's motivated and he's getting a lot done. And what was the difference? What made him different? Well, when he was asked what he was doing, he said, I'm building a castle.
And the others when they were asked, they just said, we're digging in the dirt. Now, the irony is, is that all of them are on the same project. They were all excavating with a goal in mind of putting up a beautiful building, but the one who saw all the way to the purpose had a lot more energy and enthusiasm for the task.
And the same can be true of us. You see if, if we see clearly how the menial task we're doing now relates to a bigger picture, something that we are inspired by. It's gonna give us energy to get through the task at hand. And then once we tap into that, once we start to see how good it feels to be acting in a purposeful way, then we're gonna want to carry that attitude over even to tasks that aren't connected with building a castle.
Number three, get to know yourself. Find out what that thing is that you do want to do. What are the things that put a spring in your step and a sparkle in your eye? Can you do more of that? Now you're gonna have to swim through some rough seas. Maybe battle against the tide. And why is that? It's because other people are not doing what they want to do and they can even be a little jealous, envious, maybe resentful of you or me when we're doing what we wanna do. So be prepared to deal with negativity once you know what it is you really want to do. And remember that some of that negativity may come from us, we may have a hard time convincing ourselves that we deserve to be doing that thing that other people don't get to do.
So, once you find what really excites you and what gives your life purpose and meaning, then give yourself permission to go ahead and do that. Whether anybody else is doing it or not.
Having that sense of mission as opposed to going through the motions gives us the opportunity to be all in. And when we're all in, we get more than if we're just trying. In fact, just think about the difference between water. That's 210 degrees and water, that's 212 degrees at sea level. 212 degrees boils and produces steam.
But at 210 degrees, you just have hot water. So, learn how much difference it makes for you to be boiling, to be all in. With your goals. So here are some suggestions, some tips on how to do it. Number one, we've heard it all before, but it's true. Have clear goals, set goals that you can see and that you can measure, and then work toward those goals.
If we don't have a clear picture of what we really want to do. Then it's gonna be hard for us to see where we are, and it's gonna be very hard to break those big goals into smaller steps. We're just gonna be wandering aimlessly in the absence of goals.
A second tip, track your progress. Remember that when you're climbing a mountain, if you're looking up and you see how far you still have to go, it's gonna be demoralizing and demotivating. But when you turn around and look at how far you've come, You realize I'd hate to fall all the way back to where I started.
That awareness of your progress is actually motivating. That can get you enthused and help you to keep going and get to the top of that mountain. So find ways to monitor how far you've come. Here's the third thing. Celebrate your successes. What does that mean? Well, it means buying out time to reward yourself and come up with things that you'll feel genuinely rewarded for accomplishing the tasks that you have to do.
Now, if you don't do that, if you don't reward yourself and then you burn out, you have only yourself to blame. But on the other hand, if you find things that really matter to you that are meaningful and you build those into your life at regular milestones. When you accomplish either large or small goals, those rewards will cement the behavior that you want to accomplish.
Remember this expression, what gets rewarded, gets repeated, and if we can just employ that into our lives, then it's gonna be a lot easier to have a mission rather than just a dull drudgery in our life. So here's the takeaway. It is possible to live with purpose, to have more of the mission feel rather than going through the motions.
It's possible, and yet it's challenging, but if we employ these tips that we've discussed today, we'll find that it gets much easier to enjoy that really purposeful, satisfying life. https://youtu.be/bCZnotoXFzk