The dream is to find the dream when you are eight years old — and many of us do. The problem is we forget it five years later, and then it takes us another 17 to remember it. Every once in a while, a unicorn manages to hold on to it. He’s the kid obsessed with space who actually ends up becoming an astronaut. The little chef who cooks every day, opens a Michelin star restaurant, and runs it until the day she dies.
For most of us, however, finding our purpose is less of a straightforward affair. We spend a decade from 20 to 30 purposing all over the place, and sometimes, we still emerge without an answer. That’s okay, of course, but even once we do pick a cause to hold on to, we might spend the next 50 years cleaning up the mess we created in the last ten. That’s certainly how I feel about my journey lately. I have this burning desire to just polish, polish, polish.
I want to polish my writing portfolio. Reunite every piece I’ve ever written on this blog, and make it the central and first place where everything appears. I want to polish my past creations, old courses that deserve to be bundled and improved. I want to polish Four Minute Books, from its design to its content and product offerings. Polish, polish, polish.
Everyone leaves a trail as they find their way through life, but if you want to climb at least one big mountain in your limited time, at some point, you’ll have to stick to a certain path. If you’ve found that path already — whether at 8 years old or at 30 — chances are, the daily work it requires looks less like a county fair and more like a professionals everyday routine. Polish, polish, polish.
The more polishing I do, the more shocked I am at how much there is left to yet make shiny. We’re all part of infinite systems offering infinite occupations, but it’s the few we stick to and push to the very boundary of their potential that will make all the difference. Godspeed on your pilgrimage towards purpose — and remember to polish, polish, polish.