Blog | Justin Mulvaney

They aren’t the same, although they can intersect. It’s easy for us to assume that because we feel challenged, we are fulfilled. This isn’t the case, much as being busy doesn’t mean we’re having an impact.

At different times in our lives, it makes sense to lean in one direction or another. Sometimes we’ll do unfulfilling work that challenges us for the sake of growth, and other times we’ll do unfulfilling work that doesn’t challenge us because it matters.

If you have to ask “does this challenge me?”, it doesn’t. Freely substitute “challenge” with “fulfill”.

It’s okay to not have both or to lean to one side. Issues arise when we aren’t aware of and honest about the distinction between the two.

…is best done without deadlines or expectations.

Many who become passionately immersed in something don’t get there through some framework or methodology. They stumble upon it. They explore until they find something that keeps them up at night and makes them excited to get out of bed the next morning.

Your calling is not found by forcing it. You won’t find it by setting SMART or DUMB goals for yourself. You find it by adventuring. By exploring. By blasting yourself out of your current comfort zone.

You might find glimpses in your day to day, but only by exploring those glimpses can you find passion.

When you take home your paycheck, what is that money for, aside from necessities? If you are buying security, security to do what?

Walt Disney once said “we don’t make movies to make money, we make money to make movies.”

What are you making your money for?

I don’t think patience ever comes easily, especially for dreamers. It’s easy to impatiently rage toward the next checkpoint believing that it’ll get us closer to the life we’re looking for.

The thing is that the checkpoint is always moving, especially if you’re a dreamer. As we grow the ceiling of possibility continually elevates, making us crave more and more from our lives.

It’s important to learn not to confound that checkpoint with contentment. Important, and incredibly difficult. Balancing ambition and present state appreciation can be brutally difficult.

-Naval Ravikant

Looks like the post for yesterday didn’t send out until this morning- oops! I spent all day yesterday moving and didn’t catch it. *Sigh* Technology.

On the topic of moving- this one has me particularly excited. It’s unique, the psychological weight that gets assigned to where we are, specifically our home. A relocation carries with it a form of psychological reset and excitement that make the previously impossible possible. It provides the opportunity to re-associate and change previously engrained routines.

I think there’s tremendous power in building these circumstances into our lives- moments which enable us to discover truth about ourselves and move closer to discovering that truth.

It’s a miserable place to be in. It has many names- the breaking point, rock bottom, in a funk. We find ourselves exhausted, defeated, and struggling to go on.

It is at precisely this point where we have the most to gain. The only way is up, and we’re free to experiment with nearly any solution- how much worse can it get?

The next time you find yourself defeated, don’t give up. Get creative.

It’s something that our western much-to-do culture values very little despite the meaning the word holds: an inner sense of calm and peace.

In stoic philosophy, tranquility defined as the banishment of negative emotions and the emergence of joy. It seems like the very essence of what we seek from our lives, yet it is something we very rarely claim to value.

Consider adding tranquility to your definition of success.

P.S. If this kind of thing interests you, I have some notes on stoic philosophy via my books page here.

…might just be yourself. A useful heuristic I recently heard:

If you’re wondering what course of action to take, ask yourself: What would 10-years-older you tell you to do?

We intellectualize all of the time. We hear sound principles for leading a happy life but dismiss them.

“I can’t do that. It wouldn’t work with my life.”

We don’t take the time to reconcile it’s conflict with the current state of our life and do the most difficult part: enact change. 

Occasionally, we choose to act but fail anyway. It’s at this point that we gain an even greater understanding of the principle. Only by attempting to apply it and succeeding or failing do we start to true understand what a principle looks like in application.

There’s potential in theory, but power in application.

Why do you want it?

What don’t you want? Why don’t you want that?

Goals are wonderfully useful, but assume a knowledge where you want to go. Take care of first things first.