Subscribe to Love Mondays newsletter updates via email »
LM: #327: Aspirations through obligations
There are aspiration-driven desires, and obligation-driven desires.
Our obligations come from a sense of duty to ourselves and others. We want to make money and participate in society. We want to make our families feel proud. We want to stay consistent with our identities as reliable people.
Our aspirations come from within. We often can’t put them into words. We want to write novels, make music, and build beautiful software, or just kinda ya know, do things.
WANT TO WRITE A BOOK?
Download your FREE copy of How to Write a Book »
(for a limited time)
But obligations tend to be stronger motivators of follow-through. That you lose track of time while painting gets you started, but won’t help you finish.
Ongoing projects are great because they give you ready-to-go obligations that help achieve your aspirations. As expression pours out, you have containers to catch it.
- You freewrite, then send a daily newsletter
- You have conversations, then publish a weekly podcast
- You build community, then hold a yearly conference
Well-placed obligations stop procrastination and fulfill aspirations better than waiting for inspiration.
Aphorism: “Find what you love and let it kill you.” —Charles Bukowski
Book: The Organized Mind (Amazon) shows you how to think straight in the age of information overload.
Best,
David
P.S. Self-discrepancy theory explains aspiration procrastination.
