Watching what everyone else is doing keeps you reacting to what you think is going on rather than what’s important – building something you’re proud of. I hope this video gives you the about face you need so you can get the real success you’re building.
Your best work is more than just your “job.”
Your best work may not be translatable to work you would do in a conventional day job. It could be raising your kids. It could be a side business or starting a full-time business. It could be working with a nonprofit, unpaid, or in a part-time government service; volunteering at your church, coaching Little League, or mentoring teenagers. It could be a hobby.
It’s sometimes useful to figure out how you can make a living by doing your best work, but your best work may not lend itself to being an economic engine. This doesn’t make it any less meaningful, valuable, or important, for not everything that’s meaningful, valuable, or important is tradable in the marketplace or will be “bought” enough to create a living for yourself.
The primary consideration is thus not how your best work will support your livelihood but how your best work fits into a meaningful life for you. (Tweet this.)
It may be that you can only do ten hours a week of your best work, but even people whose best work creates a living for them may only get to do ten hours a week of the best work. You may also create different options for yourself, such as deliberately working part-time and earning less so you can do more of your best work, or collaborating with your partner so that you have more weekend time to devote to your best work.
The grace is that your best work doesn’t have to be your full-time job. The downside is that not having it as your full-time job removes a lot of excuses and justifications for not doing it.
If you’re looking for more ways to build something you’re proud of, read Start Finishing.
Hi, Nice advice and you’re saying what I’ve been thinking and debating.
One thing though is the music coming in and out of this video and it takes away your words.
Thanks!
G.
Thanks, Guylaine! Sometimes we try something and it doesn’t work. I’ve switched it to the no-soundtrack version. 🙂
Good reminder, Charlie. It is super difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff, particularly when you’re new to a field. When we’re all just starting out, we want so badly to get good numbers – sometimes so that we can justify to our families that what we’re doing is real, but just as often to justify it to ourselves. It’s rough. I’m glad to remember that it’s not about that usually, maybe ever. It’s about building something that we’re passionate about, that represents us and our service to the world. Something of which we can be proud.
Thanks!
You’re right Charlie. Got a try again and again.
Have a nice weekend.
Okay, I was kinda cheerin’ by the end there… viva la video post! This was a good one.
Someone else reminded me of the same thing this morning thank you, I needed the reminder great post.
Hey Charlie,
First time commenting on your site.
I think you speak a lot of truth when you talked about not getting caught up in sales. When people start do good in their business, they lose focus of what they started the business for in the first place. When this happens, they latch on to being more competitive as oppose to making a difference. Being competitive is important but, we must never lose focus of the true goal, which is making a difference in each others lives.
Thanks for sharing.
What I have realized about blogging is that if we are too focused on what the others are doing, we tend to deflect yourself from your own masterpiece and could be a reason why our business could fail.
Extreme John I like your blog it is super great.I appreciate your blogging skills.
Thank you Mahesh. I’m so glad you took time to visit my blog and appreciate my posts. Thank you so much. 🙂
Great reminder Charlie. For a long time I would get caught up in how other peoples launches were doing and how mine weren’t as big or epic or blah blah blah.
Luckily, I don’t do that as much anymore. I just focus on creating something as amazing as I can, put out a positive intention and leave the rest up to the universe. If I want to achieve that massive release, it’ll come in time, my own time.
*Thank you* for yanking me back to what matters with this timely and valuable reminder, Charlie!