What really motivates us?

Hey there,

Hope your week is going well! Enjoy this issue and if you're feeling inspired, pass it on.

1. Any Old Map Will Do

Here's a strategy that works as well for business as it does for the rest of your life. Courtesy of Bill Barnett.

People are often intrigued by the idea that any guidance - even incorrect guidance - is better than no guidance at all; at least if the lost person thinks the guidance is correct.

The more that you find yourself in changing circumstances, the more that your strategy serves not to guide you down a known route, but to trigger your discovery of routes unknown.

2. Where energy and inspiration come from

A short post on making each day count.

Energy and inspiration come from a clarity of purpose – a clear understanding of why we’re doing what you’re doing. Absent this clarity, the day quickly becomes a grind. It is this clarity that enables us to be energetic and, then, inspirational. Our energy translates to inspiration when we’re able to communicate that clarity of purpose and transmit that energy onto others.

3. How to hire your employer

A new way to apply "Jobs to be done" from Clayton Christensen. He makes the case that people end up in jobs and lives they don't like because they don't understand what it is they're really after.

Thinking about the professional opportunities in our lives through the lens of Jobs to Be Done—in essence, asking yourself ‘What Job did I hire my job to do?’—should provide you with a completely different set of criteria for making career moves. What will make you happy, in the long run? It’s seldom as simple as the right title and salary – those are just the functional dimensions of the job to be done. But what about the emotional and social ones?

When we find ourselves stuck in unhappy careers—and even unhappy lives—it is often the result of a fundamental misunderstanding of what really motivates us.

4. "I don’t care about growth" — Paul Jarvis

Here's someone who does understand what motivates him.

I work for myself because I can build my business around my life. This means that, since my purpose for my work has never been about infinite growth, I don’t have to bother caring about it. Instead, I can focus on maximizing the work I do in a way that works for me. I can work at a pace that suits my sanity, and not at a pace that supports overhead, expenses or salaries.

Have a great week!

Jimmy

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