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Do Things That Aren't Celebrated
What are the hidden motivations behind your actions?
Here's one of mine: I wish to be celebrated.
I wish to do work that helps, inspires and uplifts.
I wish to create work out of generosity for those who care.
I wish to iterate on my work for those who celebrate it so that I can serve again, this time only better.
Deep down, I think we'd all like to be celebrated.
To do meaningful work, seek accolades to our name and most importantly, matter to somebody.
Through several years of trying to create things that matter, I've observed an interesting phenomenon.
We chase things that are celebrated by others, but we don't celebrate that which gets us there.
We don't celebrate the sleepless nights studying, we only celebrate the A+.
We don't celebrate our persistence getting it, we only celebrate if we got it.
Yes, the outcome is the result of the process, but without the desired outcome, we deem the process to be a waste of time.
Our celebrations have turned into an on/off switch.
Result achieved? = Happy
Result not achieved? = Unhappy
Some of the things I'm most proud of aren't celebrated in the eyes of others.
For example, I'm proud of my hard work and persistence towards my first research publication.
It didn't matter whether a journal accepted it or not, the work would have been the same either way.
Nevertheless, it was celebrated because a journal accepted it.
If they couldn't have accepted it for logistical reasons such as receiving too many submissions (but acknowledged it to be worthy of acceptance), nobody would have celebrated the work.
I'm proud of everything that led to that outcome; the outcome was just proof of the process.
Society will celebrate your results, outcomes and success stories, but you need to celebrate something different.
Don't celebrate your position as CEO, celebrate the making of something that matters.
Don't celebrate the finished building, celebrate the lifting of each building block.
Celebrate the process, the hard work, the grit.
Celebrate the things that others don't, because they're the most important ones.
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Links to things I’ve enjoyed this week and think you might enjoy too:
I’m still reading through Seth Godin’s ‘The practice: shipping creative work” (I’m a slow reader). Would you like a book summary once I’m done?
I started listening to ‘The Third Door’ by Alex Banayan on Audible. He’s an amazing narrator and I’ve found myself having listened to over half the book in just 3 days! If you’ve read ‘Shoe Dog’ by Phil Knight, you’ll love this. *Amazon affiliate links used.
📌 Quote of the Week
“Great work isn't popular work; it's simply work that was worth doing.” -Seth Godin
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✏️ About the Author:
👨🏽⚕️Faisal is a Junior Doctor working in the NHS and the founder of YoungAcademics, a Collaboration Platform for Students and Researchers (sign up to the new beta waitlist).
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