Ego asks “how do I look?” Purpose asks “did it work?” Only one of them gets things done.
REFLECTION
WHAT THIS MEANS
Ego and purpose ask different questions and produce very different work. One is scanning for how a thing reflects on you, which means quietly avoiding anything that risks looking bad, including the parts most likely to work. The other only wants to know whether the problem got solved, which leaves you free to be wrong in public and fix it fast.
Before your next decision, notice which question you are running. If it is the first, ask the second out loud, then pick the option that works over the one that photographs.
A QUESTION TO SIT WITH
Where are you more worried about looking good than finishing?
MORE IN MEANING & PERSPECTIVE
- Some days need a microscope: fix the small stuff. Some days need a telescope: remember why you’re doing it.
- You can have more than one reason to get up. Family, a craft, a team, a dog. Nobody said pick one.
- Two people can do the same good thing for different reasons. Only one of them will keep doing it when nobody claps.
Free, with nothing to buy inside it.