Try it for a Year
For the multi-passionate, variety truly is the spice of life. We thrive on taking on many tasks and projects, and there’s simply nothing as exhilarating as closing a new contract.
But like me, you’ve probably run into a few problems.
The first is that you end up taking on too much, even things you realize you ultimately had no interest in taking on. And then you’re either forced to finish the project, begrudgingly, or hurriedly find someone else to handle it on your behalf.
It’s a good recipe for burnout.
The second is you end up filling your time with tasks that pay but don’t necessarily offer fulfillment. I recently heard the reason Chris Tucker hasn’t always been in the public eye is because he’s looking to have a long career, not just make a ton of money. If the right project came along, he would jump on it, but otherwise, he’d rather not work.
Thirdly, and finally, you end up making shallow progress in most areas, never reaching your goals. Another year disappears into the dust, and you end up feeling like you didn’t accomplish much (even though you were probably busy as all get-out).
This year, I’m trying something new on. I’m interested in making massive progress in one or two areas, not a bit of progress in many areas. And the main thing I’m interested in going deeper into for the next year is podcasting.
And the thing that I’ve started saying to myself is:
“Let’s try it for a year and see what happens.”
In the grand scheme of things, a year is a relatively short amount of time. If you’re not happy with how things turn out in a year, you can always go back to the way things were. Plus, a year is long enough to see results from what you’re doing. You won’t always see much progress in 90 or even 180 days.
Because I’m facing some big decisions this year, thinking this way has been relieving me of some pressure. Because I can try things for a year and see how they turn out. If things don’t work out, I can go back to the way things were.
