Winning isn’t easy when we endeavor to do intentional work. It’s not easy precisely because the notion of doing intentional work is that we do work that matters—work that is deeper and more meaningful than goals based on metrics such as revenue, market share, number of employees, number of likes and shares, and so on.
In this realm, winning looks different. It’s not how much, but more like how well. It’s also about how it feels. We’re not measuring by what people think so much as by how much impact we’re having.
Doing intentional work means we buck the system. It means that instead of doing things the way all the other successful people and companies do it, we’re charting a new course.
It’s courageous and seemingly foolhardy at the same time. One day we see ourselves as visionaries, and the next we question everything.
And yet, in all our questioning: Are we on the right track? Are we doing the right thing? Will this idea take off? Will the investors come? Will the market respond? There is still this feeling that drives us—a vision of something unique and different and so meaningful that we feel in our bones that it’s the right path to take.
Which voice do we listen to: the questioning, or the vision?
Mark Twain once wrote, “All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.”
To do the intentional work, the work that truly matters, we need the ignorance to dismiss the standard method, and the confidence to blaze a new trail. No one said it would be easy, but it matters that we do it all the same.
Was nice to wake up and to be validated by your message this morning! I am courageous and I am ignorant to the thinking culture and system….and my heart and bones say YES! Thank you for helping to put into words all that my Vision is saying!