What is worth doing?
& my mission to map this question in 2021
What is worth doing?
To you? Within our economic system? In the eyes of others? In the eyes of those you love?
— & how do you figure that out?
when you’re young and have not yet stepped out into the rumored ‘real world’? When the world is unfolding in 10,000 directions at once?
There’s a sudden and stark asymmetry when you go from being a high school student to not. From being told what to do (go to school, learn what teachers are teaching) to being left embarking on a series of high stakes — and often high cost — decisions (choose a college, a career, a social scene).
So how do those leaving prescribed learning environments (& the rest of us) make informed & inspired decisions about what to do? How can listening closely to our stories support them?
The reality is: there is an abundance of things to be done (effective policies to be envisioned, stories to be listened to, research to be explored, art to be made, hands to be held, moments to be meditated in…) — so what we individually & collectively choose to do makes a huge difference.
We each have limited time on this Earth, and often certain decisions come with consequences hard to anticipate in the moment they are made. However I believe if we are actively working on defining our values and then learning decision making frameworks that incorporate those values we can set ourselves down roads we will be glad to have traveled, even if they don’t prove to be the ‘direct route’ we could have drawn in retrospect. For life is so much more than A → B.
As a single example…
I am aware that I could have made something to the magnitude of $100,000 more per year if I had chosen a different path (say, for instance, the one I was most directly on during college). I could have taught a different set of students than I have, from totally distinct backgrounds, potentially igniting totally different paths for dozens of students. Or, I could have acquired 100’s more Instagram followers if I set my mind to being the ultimate of trendy.
I still could choose another one of these paths. If I moved forward prioritizing money, or considered my impact differently, or sought out fame. But I intentionally didn’t. I chose connection and freedom and spending time with dreamers and visionaries who continue to inspire me. While there are many factors at play, I attribute a significant part of this to be my strong impulse towards introspection. This inner sense of what matters to me, what aligns with the impact I want to have on the world, means I have wound up with armfuls of wild and fulfilling experiences that appeal more to me than the other paths I could have envisioned for myself.
A large part of this quest has also included supporting others in intentionally navigating their journey — whatever values that might center on. So this year I am taking an active step in amassing insights to step deeper into this role by asking:
What is worth doing? What determines what we choose to do? How can we hone a more thorough awareness of what forces we want to guide us? & how can we deepen this awareness so that we can better support one another in making choices that help us individually and collectively do the things that are most worth doing — however we define ‘worth’.
To begin, I’ll be talking with 100 people to share their story about finding what was most worth doing. Asking about critical points in their journey, what experiences impacted them most, where they may have gone astray, and where they could have used more support. I will listen deeply and synthesize the most valuable insights I hear. Then I will pull together a living library of stories and resources to inform us all in those moments when we are facing life-defining decisions.
