So in my post the other day, Learning to THRIVE with ADD, I talked about some of the first steps that I am taking in my journey to minimize the weaknesses that ADD causes, while maximizing the benefits. But tonight I suddenly was thinking that I don’t have a truly powerful WHY I want to do this. What’s the motivation? What’s to get out of it in the end if I do all these things? Sure – accomplishing the goals that my wife and I have set would be good reasons, but honestly, we’ll achieve them regardless; they’ll just take longer to reach. So that’s not it. Successfully learning long-term self-discipline and accountability are worthy goals, but not very exciting, are they? Not the kind of reason that can make you get up in the morning and exercise, or stick with a schedule with you’re just not feeling like it.
And Then It Hit Me
I wish I could take credit for coming up with it myself, but I have to thank a fellow Plus Your Business Level 3 teammate and dental colleague over on Google+, Jorg-Peter Rabanus. Back when we were starting Level 3 in the fall of 2014, during a G+ Hangout on Air to kick off our little team’s project, he said that he had one primary reason for taking part. His words came back to me tonight, and it all fell together.
The More Successful We’ve Become, the Crazier Busy It’s Gotten
Over the last 6 years, as my wife and I have taken our practice from falling apart to amazingly busy, we’ve both had to learn to do a lot of new stuff: marketing, social media, blogging, new clinical skills, and a lot more. And of course, doing that while we’re still being a husband/wife (not just business partners), raising our 2 daughters and taking care of 2 dogs, dealing with some minor health issues (high cholesterol for both of us), etc. And it often feels like our lives are a bit out of control. And with being out-of-control, we don’t get as much “down” time, we don’t spend as much quality time as we could together, we get more irritable sometimes……all those things that come with being so busy and having so many things to do.
So yeah: I’ve found my WHY, and it’s both amazingly simple and very meaningful. I want my life back from work, so that we can live. Yes, we want to accomplish certain goals that will be wonderful – but unless I can learn to get my life back under control, reaching those goals won’t feel good for long.
And on top of that, today a new book from Amazon arrived that I’m REALLY looking forward to reading: Delivered from Distraction. Looks pretty good!