What Gives You Value?

I can’t decide which thought is more anxiety-inducing; today ending or tomorrow beginning.This thought track has been running through my head most nights over the past week. It’s not very positive, is it? In fact, it’s depressing as an earthquake during Covid lockdowns!

At the end of each day, I force myself to journal and “review the day”. At the top of the page before the brian dump are two questions.

1. What did I achieve today?

2. What did I love most about that day?

Seems simple right? But, some days I can’t answer number 2 at all. I sometimes even ask myself; did I love anything about today?

At the bottom of the page, I spend a few minutes thinking about the day to come. Ideally, I’d have 2-3 key to-do items plus a few extras. But, the thought of a new day ahead terrifies me. I am filled with anxiety - what if tomorrow will be the same as today?

It’s a vicious cycle.

I am putting most of my energy into finding a job. To break the cycle it’d mean finding a new gig. Digging deeper I’ve realised that means a big part of this cycle ending is not entirely in my control.

That is not only crazy, it’s also fucking stupid!

Relying on a job or any single source to give you meaning is dangerous.Like investing, you don’t put all your money in only one stock or a single market. You diversify. You hedge your bets. This way when one market dips you are still in a good position because other markets are stable or growing.

So what I needed to answer is what part/s of a job give me purpose? And, what value do they add to my life?I want to do things that give me meaning and add value regardless of external factors. It is a simple concept but it’s not easy to action.

I’ll give you an example from a work environment. I get fired up and inspired when I brainstorm and problem-solve with colleagues. My key value here is collaboration.

But, because I don’t have a job then I can't access this value. I can’t benefit from the feelings and experiences it can bring. So I've had to think about how I can create it elsewhere. This newsletter is my first attempt at doing that. Build a community of people to collaborate with.

I took myself through a values exercise recently to determine what is important to me. It took some time. I had to think about scenarios in life and my career where I felt fulfilled. Then I tried to name the values that contributed to that fulfilment.

I would suggest everyone thinks about the values that they want to live their life by. It is eye-opening and exciting. You realise you can make very conscious decisions that will affect you in a positive way.

You have experienced hundreds of amazing moments in your life. There are countless activities you can do to add value and meaning. Sometimes you need to put some thought into finding them. If you can identify the key values then you can make them repeatable.

If you would like me to share a specific one-pager on the values exercise please comment below and I'll send it out.

Good luck. Enjoy.

What I’m reading

The Power of Now - Eckhart TolleI’ve only just begun. It’s powerful and deep. It’s a lot to process so it may be a bit of a stop-start journey for a while.

What I’m listening to

Andrew Huberman on the Joe Rogan ExperienceAndrew is a Professor of Neurobiology and Opthalmology. I am a little obsessed with sleep, neuro-health and wellness. I listen to all I can in that field.

Where I’m rabbit holing

In my search for communities and work, I’ve started learning about DAOs (Decentralised Autonomous Organisations).

These are communities of people (from anywhere in the world) who come together to work on projects and solve problems. All the work completed on the Blockchain for all to see. Everyone gets paid in tokens for their contribution.

I’m convinced these are the future of work. I will probably write something on it when I start my first project.

Lastly, I’m sharing something beautiful from my week.

Sydney Harbour - JazzaP

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