be do have

A year ago I moved to Austin for my career. I was going to network my way into befriending the most successful folks in the city and build a brand out of myself. I was going to make all the fucking money and do all the fucking things and be one big fucking success.

And I did it. I built a very impressive network. I befriended many of the most successful people in this city, much faster than I'd expected or even dreamed of.

Last month I was leaving the personal home of the literal one person I'd want to have dinner with in this entire world and the strangest thing happened. I'd done it, I accomplished what I came here for!

And I realized, "I can leave all of this behind... and maybe I should."

"Why?" I asked my mentor last week. I couldn't understand it.

"Write this down," she responded.

DO - HAVE - BE

"This is how you were living your life when you moved to Austin. You based who you were (be) on what you had (your network, your career, your accomplishments), which was a direct product of what you did, what you produced. So you based your self-worth on constantly producing things and showing the results of those accomplishments.

Now, you are increasingly like the following:"

✨BE - DO - HAVE✨

"What you do comes from who you are, from your values and what you stand for. You aren't relying on vanity metrics to provide that internal compass anymore. Instead, your actions result from a deeper meaning within, and what you have is a natural result of the impact you make from your soul."

Which explains why I haven't acted on my career goals from a year ago. I'm not driven by the same things any more.

If I want to figure out what I should be doing, that will only come from getting clearer on who I am, what my values are, how I want to show up in this world, what kind of impact I'm suited to make. How do I want to be violent, wild, alive, what makes my heart race, what fulfills me? How do I want to serve others?

Until I solidly know the answers, the papers in front of me will remain dry and empty.