I spend a lot of time espousing what I think you (we) should do and believe me when i tell you that a day doesn’t go buy where I’m not guy checking myself against what I’ve said. I do this (writing) to help others as I work through things, to maybe bring a little focus to both of our days. My friend Christopher says I should quit apologizing and own what I say. I say I am just trying to be as transparent as possible and not come off like everything I say is 100% true. Both things can be true.

At some point in the last couple months, I alluded to psychologist, TED talker and author Simon Sinek, he of the Start with Why ideal. It’s a great book and highly recommended. Over the last decade plus I’ve read a ton of business/self help books and his was one of my favorites. As I roll along on this “try and figure some things out” trip we are all on, I try and use the things I read to create layers to “my stance” on things. This stance is less rigid than the word implies and ebbs and flows with life.

The latest layer I am working on has to do with definitions. As things roll on every day I sometimes ask myself why I am doing some of the things I do. Work, projects, hobbies etc. What i realized is that it’s really beneficial to stop and define what it is you’re doing, juxtapose it against your “why” and then decide if it’s worth it, or if you even want to bother still doing it.

How many things are you just doing because somewhere along the line you started them and now don’t even know why? What things can you eliminate or double down on?

It starts with making a list of everything you spend time or energy on and defining with as much detail as you can. How much time does it take? What are the benefits? What would happen if you stopped? What would it looked like if you added more effort to it? And so on. The final steps are to ask whether it fits into your “why” and whether you want to continue doing it.

Grab a pencil and paper. Make a list. Add and subtract as needed.

#hugsandhi5s