Work Energy
Page 16
This morning I woke up at 3 a.m. because I had an epiphany in my sleep about how we could approach a particular problem at work. I couldn’t stop thinking about the exciting problem, so I just put on my shoes and drove over to the office to get to work. I work hard because I love my work, but I’ve also been working out of an inner fear that it could all come crashing down again at any moment. Because of that, if I’m honest, I have a hard time connecting with other people sometimes because I’m so focused on killing it at work.
Our goals are a deeply meaningful part of who we are, but some goals will not make us any happier.
I don’t hold the secrets to the universe, but I have determined a purpose in life that has helped me through difficulties and made me feel genuinely happy. Most of all, it makes me feel that every moment of my life has a meaning, no matter how mundane.
Here it is: This is my personal approach to the meaning of life that has worked for me. The purpose of life is to improve myself and my family within our sphere. It works no matter your religious beliefs. Just improve who you are, from where you currently are.
We are each born into different circumstances and families. We have different opportunities, problems, struggles, and talents. That’s your sphere, and it doesn’t matter where it is or what it looks like. Simply improve within it.
Again, I do not hold the secrets to the universe, but when I adopted that phrase as my running theory of the purpose of life, it helped me find meaning. For me, the purpose of life is to improve myself and my family within our sphere.
My parents are better than my grandparents were. They really are. My grandparents were wonderful people, but they struggled too. My parents saw some of those errors and they live their lives in a way that fixes those problems. They are remarkably consistent and kind people. That’s the sphere I was born into, and my job is to do everything I can to take my family line a step further—to improve my family. I have my work cut out for me in a way you can’t understand unless you meet my parents. That means every single night with my kids has a purpose and meaning to me. It is not about doing what is most relaxing, but what will bond us together and prepare my kids to thrive as adults.
But my purpose isn’t only to improve my family’s position; it is to improve myself and my abilities too. I need to increase my ability to do and to serve. That’s why I read 60 books per year while I’m driving in the car or working out; I feel that doing so will give me an edge. That’s why I have a bucket list in the first place. That’s why I pray for strength every morning, and why I have a note on my phone where I write down my good turn each day, since I’m not naturally good at thinking of others as much as I should.
My brother’s death caused me to reflect on what all my ambition and aspirations were even about, and in the end it has driven me to work faster, care more, and remember that life is too short to be idle for any of it. The game can end at any moment.
My goals are changing in this new season of life. I’m learning how I can set aside the “Look at me! I broke a world record in tiddlywinking!” type of goals, and change them into goals about who I am as a person. Recognizing that I’ve been over-focused on building an empire online to compensate for a past failure, my goals are now about building traits that make me a better person.
I’m going to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, become a hot air balloon pilot, and spend a night on a private tropical island. I am going to finish that bucket list. But now I realize that the reason I feed work to my work energy is to help me improve myself as a person. It drives me to continually challenge myself and become stronger.
Your work energy drives you. Mine drives me. Your work energy feeds your inner need to feel successful and helps you crush any problem in front of you. What I have learned over time is that living to work will only make me inescapably hungry for more. Instead, I’m learning how I can use my work energy to build a muscle to improve who I am.
Our time here on this earth is short. There are seasons in life for sprinting, and others for slowing down and living simply, but every season has a purpose. You likely will never scratch the surface of the true potential you have. But if you understand your work energy, set a goal, focus on the highest-value efforts, and groundhog the work until success, you can find yourself continually able to take on larger and more audacious goals.
Life won’t be vanilla for you. You will be the one who has all the confidence to put any idea that pops into your head into action. You will be the one who never seems bothered by the little things. You will be the one who doesn’t feel so trapped by work, money, or time that you can’t say yes to fun. You will be the one with the happy family. You will be the one who is so excited to get up each morning that you can’t sleep any longer. You will be the one being promoted at work past others who have been there longer. You will be the one people go to when they need help. You will be the strength to your family in a time of need. You will be the one who stops playing Little League. You will be the one for whom things seem to work out, and people will wonder why you’re so “lucky.”
So go become a goal animal. Go finish what you start, and fearlessly take on any goal.
Jim Harmer is a true-blue Idahoan. He loves hunting, fishing, and camping with his family. Though he is licensed to practice law, he has been a proud blogger and YouTuber for nearly his entire professional career. He has broken two world records (longest distance traveled while playing tiddlywinks and most light orbs captured in a single photograph), and he continues to cross more items off of his bucket list every year. His current goal is to make sure his three kids—Ruger, Cole, and Faith—don’t become weirdos as a result of being homeschooled.