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Feeling Meh? Ask Yourself This Question
It’s easy to lose yourself chasing someone else’s definition of success.
Your creative cure—weekly insights, lessons, and inspiration from the greatest minds.
In the early 1900s, a popular and polemic Parisian newspaper had a habit of dreaming up big questions and asking celebrities to send in their replies.
One question asked, “What do you think would be the ideal education to give your daughter?” Another asked, “Do you have any recommendations for improving traffic congestion in Paris?”
In the summer of 1922, the paper offered a peculiar question:
An American scientist announces that the world will end, or at least that such a huge part of the continent will be destroyed, and in such a sudden way, that death will be the certain fate of hundreds of millions of people. If this prediction were confirmed, what do you think would be its effects on people between the time when they acquired the aforementioned certainty and the moment of cataclysm? Finally, as far as you’re concerned, what would you do in the last hours.
The last person consulted was Marcel Proust — author of the masterpiece In Search of Lost Time. His response is a dagger against ignorance that cuts through all lies, myths, and excuses for not living a wonderful life.
**This Is Proust Writing**
I think that life would suddenly seem wonderful to us if we were threatened to die as you say. Just think of how many projects, travels, love affairs, studies, it—our life—hides from us, made invisible by our laziness which, certain of a future delays them occasionally.
But let all this threaten to become impossible forever, how beautiful it would become again! Ah! If only the cataclysm doesn’t happen this time, we won’t miss visiting the new galleries of the Louvre, throwing ourselves at the feet of Miss X, making a trip to India.
The cataclysm doesn’t happen, we don’t do any of it, because we find ourselves back in the heart of normal life, where negligence deadens desire. And yet we shouldn’t have needed the cataclysm to love life today. It would have been enough to think that we are humans, and that death may come this evening.
Proust’s response touches on the importance of asking the important questions and re-evaluating our priorities.
Or should I say “priority”?
Anyway, more on that later …
TODAY’S MENU
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— Santi
Feeling Meh? Ask Yourself This Question
Growing up, society told me that if I got the job, the girl, the car, the house, then I’d be happy.
But society lied.
Shortly after, it tried to convince me that my job wasn’t good enough and that my girl wasn’t hot enough. It told me my car wasn’t cool enough, and my house needed an extra room and a better view.
And I believed it.
It’s easy to lose yourself chasing someone else’s definition of success. But worse than getting lost is arriving and feeling the same sense of emptiness as when you started.
It’s also easy to get caught up chasing a lie. It happens all the time. You’re likely chasing some lie right now, either in your personal, professional, or romantic life, and the only way to break out of this cycle is to look at yourself, figure out what matters and what’s real, and obsess over it the way you’ve obsessed over society’s — and your boss’s or partner’s — lies.
You do that by asking a simple question.
What is my priority (singular)?
Your projections, doubts, and insecurities can, at times, drown out the voice of wisdom.
So, I ask that you hear me out.
You likely noticed the word “singular” squeezed between parentheses in the title above. There is a reason for that.
The word "priorities" (plural) is a modern invention.
The root "prior" comes from the Latin "prioritias," which refers to the state of being earlier in time or first in importance. For much of history, "priority" meant the one thing of utmost importance.
It wasn't until the Industrial Revolution and the rise of modern business and management practices in the 20th century that the concept was pluralized into “priorities,” giving birth to the juggling act our work-life culture depicts.
You can only juggle so many things at once before balls start dropping.
If everything is a priority, then nothing is.
Having multiple priorities shows a lack of focus, and it’s likely a sign that you are prioritizing the wrong things. How can you expect to live a meaningful life and create meaningful work if you constantly prioritize meaningless tasks?
My priority is to grow this newsletter to 10,000 readers, which is, by the way, a goal you can help me achieve by sharing the newsletter with your creative comrades and compadres.
And if you think of me as shallow or selfish for making my work my priority, hear me out — you promised.
Publishing (or trying to publish) a quality newsletter every week requires me to be in good physical, emotional, and mental health. Creative health is a direct result of holistic health, so to be in good creative shape, I must care for my body, mind, and spirit, all of which require a great deal of discipline, grace, and understanding.
Second, growing a community of 10,000+ members also requires skills and mindsets outside my comfort zone, so, this project grows and stretches me in meaningful and actionable ways. Some of the skills I’ve acquired on the road to 10,000 have already paid dividends in my professional and personal life.
Lastly, this work is helping me become a better and more empathic writer, thinker, and leader, laying the foundation for future and equally exciting endeavors. As you can see, even though the priority is “newsletter growth,” the results and impact are layered and a lot more complex.
When defining your priority, don’t be ashamed of putting on your oxygen mask first. It’s the responsible — and right — thing to do.