A few days ago, I was out for a morning walk when I saw a dad and his eight-year-old son walking towards me. I got to hear a bit of their conversation:
“Dad, did you like going to school?”
“It wasn’t bad. My friends where there.”
“It’s not bad for me either. But I still don’t like it.”
They dropped out of hearing range. But I thought to myself, “Smart kid.”
Maybe I just thought that because I also didn’t like school, even when my friends were there. In fact, I would say I hated school.
I hated being told what to do. I hated the arbitrary stuff I had to do. I hated being forced to sit there all day long. It was like working in an office, but I wasn’t getting paid.
Fortunately I’ve been out of school for a while now. And now I do get paid for the work I do, plus I even enjoy it.
I’m not exactly sure how I got here. But I do know that at some point, I sat down and made a list of things I enjoyed doing up to that point… and another list of things I didn’t enjoy, or even hated.
I came back to both lists occasionally. And over time, without trying hard, I experienced more of the things on the first list. And over time, again without trying hard, I somehow eliminated all the things on the second list.
There’s a bigger point in there.
The most powerful ideas I’ve internalized over the past year is also one of the most trite-sounding. I heard it for years, and each time I just rolled my eyes. The idea is simply this:
Bring your attention to what you want.
Over the past year, I realized this isn’t some “law of attraction” fluff. Rather, it’s practical advice.
Get things out of your head. Write down what you want, to the best of your knowledge. Also write down what you want to stay away from. And then come back to those lists regularly.
Making and reviewing those lists might be all you have to do to stick it out for the long term and enjoy the process.
Because in my experience, success comes from figuring out how to play the long game. Even if that means eliminating things that everyone says are important and good — like school.
Ok, on to business:
You might be wondering what this work is that I do. It’s mainly writing, specifically, copywriting. Like I said, I enjoy it, and I find it pays very well. If it’s something you’re interested in learning more about, sign up for my daily email newsletter, where I write more about copywriting, and occasional “law of attraction” fluff.