đ Why You Shouldnât Follow Your Passion
First Big Thing, Stress Drains, & Obsessions
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Your free books have been gently taken from Amazonâs shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow. A team of 65 employees inspected your book and ironed the pages to make sure there were no creases. Amazonâs packing specialist from Kentucky fired a 21-gun salute in your honor after placing the book into the finest gold-lined box that money can buy. Paul and I had a wonderful celebration afterward and put your pictures on our wall as âReaders of the Yearâ. Everyone involved is exhausted but we canât wait to celebrate you, our top readers, again!!
đ„Ż This is the Big Baguette Bites version of Bread Crumbs where we give you a hoggie-sized helping of habits, questions, and principles that will make you better at thinking.
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Todayâs estimated read time: 4 minutes & 58 seconds.
This is written by the Clancy kid with the wettest jumper and worst vert, Luke.
One Tiny Habit
Under 5 minutes a day can change your life.
Itâs a typical Monday night. I look at the tasks I have to knock out, check my calendar, & plan my day out. Iâm feeling excited to have a nice productive day tomorrow. I close my laptop and go to bed.
I wake up the next morning & knock out some work. Along the way, I end up watching NFL player breakdowns or reading why we donât see any aliens. But, in general, it feels like a productive day.
But then, I look at my task list and see that one, scary task is still up there. Itâs been on my list for quite a few days. Itâs important and I should definitely get started on it. But, for some reason, the day slipped by and I didnât get to it. I should really get to it. The same thing happened yesterday. And the day before. And the day before thatâŠdefinitely not good.
Why canât I just sit down and do it?! Stop being a baby and just do it, Luke! Meh, Iâll do it tomorrow I say to myself. Eventually, the deadline approaches, and I hastily get it doneâŠfinally.
Itâs ridiculous how familiar this pattern is to me. I pride myself on being productive. Yet, I canât just sit down and do one task. Itâs like my brain is a dog that refuses to sit.
At Bread Crumbs, we know how to deal with this dog-like behaviorâŠtrick it into doing what you want. How do we execute this trick for the most important but looming task?
I added a section to my task list called the First Big Thing (FBT).
FBT is the first task that you do when you start your work for the day. Your FBT should be something you keep putting off that you know you should be doing. Is it scary? Even better!
The trick is to reward yourself once you complete the task. For me, that usually comes in the form of Chipotle bowls. Iâve been doing the FBT for a few months and I feel more accomplished, productive, & happy. I get the ball rolling for the day. Plus, I am less stressed over time because I focus on things that really matter (rather than waiting until the last minute).
For all of my fellow procrastinators out there, I think experimenting with this tactic may help you out!
- Luke
One Insightful Question
Stop unconsciously floating through life & start thinking about things that really matter.
Picture your head as a clear tank of water. The tank has 4 parts: (1) water, (2) faucets, (3) drains, & (4) a line marking a certain water level.
(1) The water represents stress. It continually fills the tank (sometimes at a fast rate, sometimes at a slow rate).
(2) The faucets represent things that cause stress.
(3) The drains represent things that relieve stress.
(4) And the line represents the amount of stress you can handle before you start to feel like shit consistently.
Personally, I have a lot of faucets (things that cause stress). Sometimes, those faucets cause the water levels to surpass my stress line. At that point, everything bottles up at once and I need to gtfo, go on a walk, talk to a friend, and stop thinking about all of my problems.
I hate that feeling. In the past few months, Iâve started to notice a pattern that causes it. My faucet levels havenât changed. But without realizing it, Iâve slowly closed my drains (things that relieve stress). Since my water of stress had nowhere to go, it slowly built up.
I think this happens to a lot more people than we think. Luckily, we can prevent slow build-ups (& subsequent freak-outs) with one simple question:
What are my drains and are they open?
There are a few easy ones: eating well, staying hydrated, staying connected with friends/family, getting outside / exercising, & giving your brain space to think.
Almost every single time I felt super stressed out, I hadnât been doing these basic things for the days leading up to it.
So letâs focus on being better plumbers. Keep your drains clear and life will flow a whole lot better.
- Luke
One Guiding Principle
Principles can guide you to a great life.
To build a great career, most gurus will tell you to âfollow your passion.â
I think this is terrible advice.
For most people, passion comes in the form of a hobby that is fun and brings joy. In my opinion, turning hobbies into a full-time careers will probably:
Turn that fun hobby into a stressful responsibility.
Eventually result in you quitting.
Why? (1) Most hobbies are hard to monetize. By going all in, you now take on the responsibility of a business owner. Youâll end up doing a lot of things that arenât your passion. (2) Careers are long and tough. If you pursue a fun hobby, it will be hard to stick it out when the going gets rough.
So, how do you build a great career? Donât look for the thing that brings you the most joy, look for the thing that you canât stop doing. Work on your obsession. I think thereâs 2 steps to getting there:
Get really good at a thing that you enjoy that will pay you money.
Find & (eventually) pursue your obsession.
The ultimate goal is to work on your obsession. But, most obsessions are difficult to find & hard to monetize. So, youâll need a job that gives you time to figure it out. In my opinion, the best jobs are cousins to your passions and obsessions. For example: if youâre an oil paint artist at heart, do graphic design first.
As you work, search for your obsession by trying new things and talking to interesting people.
Once you find it, pursue it (on the side). As you work on it, it will become less risky to pursue full time. And eventually, it will be more risky to stay in your current job than to pursue your obsession!
Passions are for hobbies. Obsessions are for careers.
- Luke
5 Great Resources
A curated list of content to help you explore your curiosity.
Wanna see my all-time favorite thinkers & resources? Click here.
A blog post on why (statistically speaking) the world never been better.
How to have effortless personal productivity (embrace your monkey mind)
Listen & learn why we might not be the most advanced human civilization to live on Earth.
- Luke
Meme of the Week
See yâall next Sunday. We like big buns and we cannot lie!
- Paul & Luke