Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.
– Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī
This quote comes from a dear reader and an old student of mine. And I absolutely love this.
Marcus Aurelius talks about listening to your nature. Elizabeth Gilbert talks about doing what you are capable of doing. Likewise, Steven Pressfield.
One of the most straightforward things I did was quit my job in tech and move back to India to start The Quad. The level of clarity I had back then made things quite simple.
Taking the time to listen more to what's going on internally is the key. Shut out the noise.
If we could truly be excellent at only one thing, what would it be?
– Greg McKeown
We have a tendency to over-complicate. Well, I certainly do. To over-think.
The previous quote and the example (of me moving) is an instance of clarity making what looks to be a rather hard decision a very obvious one.
This quote is a difficult one to answer. But it shouldn't be. And when it is not, I presume clarity will follow.
Ambition means tying your well-being to what other people say or do.
Self-indulgence means tying it to the things that happen to you.
Sanity means tying it to your own actions.
– Marcus Aurelius
Control the controllables. Which basically means my own actions. Am I happy with what I am doing? If not, fix it. There's nothing else to think about.
Happy new year, and all that! Have a great Friday + the weekend. Thanks for reading, as always.