One mistake that people often make when tracking their aliveness is “The Mistake of the WHAT!”
In other words, they attribute most, if not all, of their aliveness to the “what”– to the particular thing that they’re doing, be it writing or selling, teaching or engineering.
The Mistake of the “What” is deeply ingrained into our society’s culture. “WHAT do you want to be when you grow up?”, people ask us from the time we are little, and we’re expected to answer with an occupation: “I want to be a firefighter– a ballerina– a doctor.”
The mistake we are making is simply this:
The “What” is only one of several factors that affect the bringing out of our aliveness and the uncovering of our truest selves.
In focusing solely on the “What,” we are missing the other important– no, critical– factors that contribute to our aliveness. Cal Newport, Ph.D, has spent years studying people who are fulfilled with their livelihoods. Based on his research, he noted the following:
It’s difficult… to find studies that argue the importance of matching a work environment to a pre-existing passion. Most studies instead point to the importance of more general traits, like autonomy or a sense of competence (see, for example, the voluminous research literature on Self-Determination Theory for more on such findings).
These traits are agnostic to the specific type of work performed, contradicting the idea that you must find the exact right job to be happy.
– Cal Newport, Ph.D.
In other words, it isn’t so much the doing as it is the being that matters.
Are you being your truest self?
Are you experiencing that sense of aliveness that already exists within you?
Whether or not this is happening depends on much more than just the “What.” It is equally (if not moreso) determined by the qualities or the traits your work allows you such as competence, autonomy, or a sense of impact:
Different people are looking for different things in their work, but in general, if you study people with compelling careers, they enjoy some combination of the following traits: autonomy, respect, competence, creativity, and/or a sense of impact. In other words, if you want to feel passionate about your livelihood, don’t seek the perfect job, instead seek to get more of these traits in the [life you’re already living].
– Cal Newport, Ph. D.
When we experience these traits, we are experiencing our aliveness.
Now, I’m not suggesting that you should never switch fields or try different “Whats”– the “What” does matter (more on this later); it’s just that other factors matter just as much (if not more).
The specific work you’re doing, after all, matters very little if the environment and the people around you aren’t conducive to your sense of aliveness.
“Working right trumps finding the right work,” says Newport.
Watch the intro video below for a five minute overview of “The Mistake of the What.”
One of the most common things I hear people say is, “I really love playing basketball/guitar/doing yoga/rock climbing, but how am I supposed to make that into a career?”
Or sometimes they think they’ve found a “what” that brings them alive, but once they start working in the field, they realize they’re actually miserable.
Consider this example: A big part of my current work involves writing (the “what”), and yet writing simply isn’t the biggest factor in boosting my aliveness.
After all, if I had to write for most other people, I’d be miserable. (In other words, the “who” matters a ton– who am I writing for and who am I working with? The “who” definitely trumps the “what” for me.)
Importantly, my pleasure, enjoyment, and sense of aliveness really comes from what I’m writing about and why I’m doing it– not simply from what it is I’m doing (writing).
So discovering a passion for writing, for example, doesn’t guarantee that I’ll be fulfilled with my work. There are plenty of miserable environments and ways in which to write.
To further this example, I am positive that I could be happier working as an accountant, given that I worked with great people, for a great reason, in a great environment, than I could writing for the wrong people, for the wrong reasons, and in the wrong environment.
Because it’s not (just) about the “what!”
So often, it’s about the people you’re working with.
It’s about why you’re doing it.
It’s about the where— the environment in which you’re working.
And it’s about the qualities you’re able to experience while doing this work– autonomy, challenge, connection, and so on on so forth.
These are all things I want you to be paying attention to as you track your aliveness throughout this next week.
The Mistake of the What is part of a process in the course to help you start paying attention to what makes you feel more or less alive.
Anyway, what I realized while doing this is that what I’m doing at any given time tends to be a lot less important than the who I’m doing it with and why I’m doing it.
Sure, I generally would prefer ice skating to sweeping a floor, but I’d probably prefer sweeping the floor at a theatre while joking around with friends or sweeping the floor in my apartment to prepare for a party over ice skating around in circles by myself for hours on end.
– An excerpt from Sarah Goshman’s blog, No Help Here
And lastly, remember: It’s not that the “what” doesn’t matter at all– it certainly, certainly does. I have a penchant for and an interest in certain areas and fields, and being able to pursue these fields is a very important part of my aliveness.
The “what” does matter, but it often matters only if it’s combined with the right combination of other factors.
Ignore these other factors and you could find yourself in a job you despise, even if you’ve found a true passion or interest.
In fact, it’s very likely that being stuck with the wrong whos, wheres, whys and qualities will quickly zap the passion and interest right out of a “what” that you were once extremely passionate about.
So pay attention!
You can’t use your compass as a guide until you’ve begun to properly calibrate it– until you even have a sense of which way is north, of when and how and why and where you feel most alive.
Below, I leave you with a random, weird, and highly entertaining video on “The Mistake of the What.”
Be forewarned that this video has no educational value WHATSOEVER! It’s completely for fun!
Start paying attention now and taking note of your aliveness– whether or not you can see how it relates to your career at all– and record every day for the next week.
I’ve found that this exercise works FAR better if you pay attention and record your observations as you go along (NOT if you come back later and try to remember everything), which is why I’ve created a tracking sheet for you to use as you go about your week. (The tracking sheet and instructions are included in this module’s homework document.)
Keep in mind that this is NOT about thinking through your past; it’s about paying attention in the present and taking note of things as they happen.
I’ve asked you to set an alarm to remind you each day– this will serve as a reminder if you get off track, but again, ideally you’ll be paying attention and tracking throughout the day. Simply pause at any give time and ask yourself, “How am I feeling right now? Is there aliveness within me?” Make it a practice; something that’s second nature.
We’ll do this exercise formally only once, but it’s something that I hope you continue to do for yourself, whether you’re writing down and formally your results or not, throughout the rest of this course and the rest of your life.
Because it’s when we stop paying attention and letting our compass guide us that we begin to stray off course.
Then in Module 4, I’ll be asking you to summarize the results of your aliveness tracking and showing you how to begin using it as a guide throughout this process. In Module 4 you’ll also get started with the experimentation phase of the E & E process!
Ready to get going on your aliveness tracking? Continue on to the homework section.
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Next: Get going on yer homework!