What’s the real reason…

…you started this?

…you showed up today?

…you are doing this for a living?

…you are in that relationship?

… or haven’t started yet?

If you lie to yourself that it’s for the money, or because you “have to”, or because it’s the best you can do, you just might act like the pretend reasons are real.

Being honest about the real reasons is a key step toward on-purpose choices to end up where you actually want to.

I recently spent some time between conference sessions with indie musician Hannah Elizabeth Smith. The night before, she had thrilled the crowd with her masterful main stage performance. While we chatted she was messing around on her guitar with skills so impressive and seemingly easy for her, I just had to shake my head and laugh.

Thinking of Malcom Gladwell’s 10,000 hours of practice to master anything, I asked 20-year-old Hannah if she thinks she has 10,000 hours of guitar practice in. After some quick mental math she said “I think it’s a lot more than that”.

Calling her gifted would be an insult. She’s spent a big fraction of the waking hours in her life practicing guitar. That’s earned, not given.

Almost anyone can be “gifted” at almost anything, if they put in the practice time. That includes you, and that means “not gifted” is no excuse.

This week, for the first time, I did a session with a personal trainer. I learned things about my posture and how I tense up that seem obvious in hindsight. The thing is, I’ve been hanging out with my body for 35 years and I never noticed those things. In five minutes my trainer did.

Our brains are made to notice change and contrast, not things that have always been that way. And things look different from the other side of your eyeballs.

Recognize your blindness to yourself and ask trustworthy people to be mirrors for you.

If you set your mental GPS to head straight for “make money” and pursue it with passion, you won’t get good guidance, and you probably won’t reach that destination.

If you set it for “solve this customer problem” or “make the world a better place” and pursue it with passion, you’ll probably succeed and open doors to making a lot of money.

Nobody is interested in paying you so you can make your dream of making money come true. Lots of people are interested in paying you for solutions to their problems. Create and sustain success with focus on those you serve.

Your energy level is a valuable signal. Who energizes you? What quickly wears you out? What recharges you?

An energy drain can be a signal about an unresolved conflict that you might want to stop coping with and let go or make change. It might mean you are doing too much output, or not arranging for the inputs and the rest you need.

An energy boost can be a signal you are fulfilling your passion, doing your best work, or connecting with someone who is good for you.

Instead of riding the waves of your energy unaware, pay attention to when they happen and why. Use this insight to illuminate and inform your choices.