Your Highest Calling

What is the goal of this project?
Why am I doing it? What do I hope to get out of it?
What is the worst thing that might happen if I fail?
What steps can I take to reduce risk and mitigate failure?
Is it worth it?

The problem is that the human brain evolved to keep us safe, not happy—it will resist your efforts to walk your own path because creativity challenges certainty. It will even accept the comforting illusion that there is certainty along the traditional path. It’s a lot harder to ignore the risk when you’re being creative. By necessity, you’re trafficking in the new, the unknown.

There’s an old Chinese proverb: The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it.

infusing their time on this planet with playfulness, joy, and whimsy.

Action is identity. You become what you do. You don’t need permission from anybody to call yourself a writer, entrepreneur, or musician. You just need to write, build a business, or make music. You’ve got to do the verb to be the noun.