Are you driven or are you being dragged? + Jon Baptiste's mantra for peace and perspective
Are you living a life based on social norms, values, and expectations? Are you chasing possessions like a home with a white-picked fence, the new Ford F1 truck, or the newest gadgets because that’s what you 'should' do?
If you are, then you are playing the wrong game, and you're playing the game wrong.
Life is a game, and successful people not only play their own game but also create their own rules.
Everything in life is made up. Made-up rules, made-up definitions, and made-up norms.
Successful people define the game of life and its rules for themselves. They refuse to compare their lives to others or follow others' rules.
Do the same if you want to be both successful and happy.
Example - Ryan Holiday is a good model of this. He loves to read, write, and explore the ideas about which he is most curious. He has turned his curiosities into a successful profession over time (he has been at it for over a decade). He has created a discipline around reading and writing, including opening a physical bookstore so he can be surrounded by books. However, he isn't only focused on his career. He is a family man who prioritizes time with his family and people that matter. Ryan has defined success and happiness for him and pursued it in his own way.
Implement - Every quarter, find some quiet time and ask - Are you driven, or are you being dragged?
Additional resources to take a deeper dive into the game of life:
Book - The game of life and how to play it
Life is not about 'having' possessions. Life is about figuring out what you love to do, where you can be useful, and who you want to become.
A novel to give you some perspective - Replay
What if you could relive your life over and over again? What would you change or do differently? What regrets would you undo?
Make that list and start to rewrite your story- Now.
The goal isn't to live in regret but to find power in your past mistakes and use them to nudge you in a better direction so that ten years from now, you won’t have the same regrets.
A fulfilled life is mostly lived in the mundane. Mistakes are how you find the muse in the mundane.
Frictionless existence is a lie. Stop looking for it. Especially because if you ever did find a frictionless existence, it would rob you of all the lessons friction teaches you. If evolution is necessary for survival, friction is the reason and the trigger for that evolution.
Don’t wish for friction not to exist because then you're risking your own existence.
Type A people have Type B problems, and vice versa
I am loving this brief post from Chris Williamson because he is spot on with this.
"Type A people may objectively have “better” lives, but subjectively, they’re ravaged by the sense that they’ve never done enough."
Bottomline - Type A people can learn the art of relaxing and recharging from Type B people, and Type B people can learn to find extra gear and take more consistent action.
Goal - Focus on having a productive perspective rooted in peace. This will lead to true prosperity, one that will be the envy of billionaires.
Jon Baptiste is one of the most celebrated musicians of our time. He is a multiple Grammy Award winner with musical prowess in multiple instruments, vocals, and genres. His mantra for peace and perspective is profound and easy to implement. Click the link below to watch Jon share it in his own words.
Jon Baptiste's mantra to cultivate perspective and peace.
I hope this post nudges you towards everlasting peace and prosperity.
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