I had a very colourful dream which I can’t recall, but I know it was quite exciting and had a lot of teaching moments, a total production! (Maybe I picked this from my wife who keeps dreaming colourful dreams with stunts, explosions and over-the-top happenings).
The only thing I remembered once I woke up was that I picked up my phone and wrote this in my notes app -
Own your race, it is less about the end goal, and more about your personal journey/experience.
This wasn’t much of a revelation though because my life over the last few years has been a reflection of this statement. This was a reminder - to live!
I used to be held down by what is termed the “arrival fallacy”. It is the illusion that once we reach our goals, we reach happiness.
I spent my life tieing my happiness to my grand goal (retiring at 40 with ‘enough’ money in the bank with tons of viable investments). And so, my happiness was always short-lived because all I could think about was how far I was from my life goals + the goal post amount kept shifting every year.
Take a look at this post shared by Roberto on Twitter.
I know that I am not alone in this. A lot of people are goal-orientated and have convinced themselves that certain achievements have the power to transform them. They believe they can become better versions of themselves overnight once they hit certain goals: new, improved, happier. After all, when they reach <insert goal> everything in their lives will finally fall into place. Right?
Unfortunately, this is/was not a great way to live.
I have learned that happiness is not a static destination that can be reached after achieving a goal. While achieving a goal may give us a short-term boost, our levels of happiness will continue to rise and fall in accordance with the many internal and external events we experience.
And so, I made up my mind to focus on experiencing life. Taking walks, listening to music, going offline and taking notice of my environment, spending time with people that inspire me, separating work from my personal life, working on projects that inspire me, enjoying art, bungee jumping, cooking etc.
I end with the words from my notes:
Own your race, it is less about the end goal, and more about your personal journey/experience.
Make a conscious decision to experience life!
Podcast!!! The latest Episode of the Grinders Podcast is now available. This week's episode features a conversation with Sam Sturm, Chief Venture Architect at Founders Factory Africa (FFA). Sam shares insights on the value of relationships, his journey into the venture space, his thoughts on the Venture ecosystem, the myth of talent scarcity and his favourite productivity hacks.