Do I want to:
Lead a business? Or be a ‘successful entrepreneur’?
Write a book? Or be a ‘famous author’?
Run a marathon? Or be a ‘race winner’?
In each example, doing the first part is hard. The second is what we might become when we do the first thing.
When we chase being the successful-famous-winner without doing the work, we are on a path to disappointment. At the same time, focusing only on doing the leading-writing-running can leave us lost in the thick of thin things.
For each of us, there is a balance to be found. We will have different priorities in different areas of our lives. Sometimes, for some of us, simply writing the book is enough. At other times, in other areas, we may have a desire to push ourselves harder: just leading the business is not enough – we want more than that.
There are no easy answers here, and self-awareness is crucial to understanding this tension between Doing and Being. When we find ourselves stuck, however, it’s worth considering two questions:
Why am I going to DO this?
And what do I want to BE as a result?
