What’s the Purpose?
This writing is Certified Human
“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot.” — Michael Altshuler
The Obstacle
Life demands many things from us
We’re pulled in separate directions
Relationships
Obligations
Commitments
Work
Distractions.
All of the urgent
And all of the important
Combining together
Competing for our time
Energy
Attention
And resources.
It’s hard to know what boundaries to set
With who
What to do
And when to do it.
It’s hard to remain focused on what’s important
When everything feels urgent.
The Gift and Opportunity
Life is busy
It always has been.
Life is simple
It always has been.
We complicate it.
We’re not that different from our ancient ancestors.
Everything urgent seems important
But it’s not.
We can pause every so often
Every hour or so
And ask ourselves:
What’s the purpose of what I’m doing?
Is it important
Or is it urgent?
How often am I killing time?
How much time do I spend distracted?
Am I avoiding something important
By doing something urgent
That feels meaningful
But isn’t?
We can evaluate
Recalibrate
And get after what’s important
With purpose.
The Practice of Self-Mastery
• Pause before reacting to urgency
• Ask what the purpose is
• Separate urgent from important
• Recalibrate attention and action
CHEAT CODE: PAUSE → ASK PURPOSE → RECALIBRATE → ACT WITH PURPOSE
The Why
My life is busy.
There are lots of important and urgent things to do.
This became even more evident this week
The kids are out of school
Summer lies ahead of them.
Their days will be filled with choices
How they spend their time.
It’s easy to pour our time out unconstrained
So that it runs in each direction without thought, restraint, or purpose.
It is up to them to decide what purpose the summer holds.
Who they will be at the end of it.
What skills
Knowledge
Strength
Might they have coming out of it.
If they decide what’s important to them.
What the purpose of their time spent is.
They can structure their days around that purpose.
It doesn’t mean there won’t be free time, having fun, being distracted, and doing silly, pointless things.
But it does mean the bulk of what they do will be focused in a direction that brings them closer to the person we want to be with each choice.
