There’s a natural slowness near the end of each year that provides a nice space for reflection. This blog is going to be concise (in response to the feedback I’ve been receiving) and it’ll be about some questions that we can all use to refocus our effort as we inch closer to the new year. Like most meaningful content, I’m writing this for me and I hope it helps you.
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I’m not sure if you can relate, but I have quite a bit of trouble saying “no” to opportunities.
However, over the past few months I’ve learning that sometimes in order to make room for something great, we have to say “no” to something good. I’m also coming to understand that often times doing more for the sake of doing more isn’t wise and that diluted focus often leads to diluted results. With that being said, here are five questions to answer if you’re unsure of where to place focus going forward. Feel free to read just the questions but my answers will be there as well.
1. If you lost everything, who would you be?
If I lost everything I would still be Joe Rinaldi, a child of God. Regardless of position, possessions or circumstances I’m a human being who believes that life is so much bigger than any one person. I feel called to love God and love others always.
2. What specific value do I want to add to the world?
I want to help others change their perspective around struggle. Through what I create and (more importantly) how I live, I want people to see that circumstances don’t have to define us. There is so much that is out of our control but how we respond to life is something that we can take complete ownership of. Struggle is the stimulus for strength.
3. What distractions are disguised as opportunities?
If I’m being honest, money is something that I think about often and for me, financial gain without impact is the biggest distraction. In other words, opportunities to make money without the chance to create unique impact is wasteful of the most valuable resource that we have: time. This is something I’m always working on and usually struggling with.
4. If you couldn’t fail, what would you be pursuing?
If I couldn’t fail I would be doing what I’m doing; exploring entrepreneurship to take ownership of my time while learning more about myself each step of the way. I would create a movement to answer question number two while growing into the most authentic, intentional and empathetic person that I can be. I would embrace the messiness that comes with the honest search for clarity and elevate above each obstacle on that path.
5. Where are you wasting energy?
I’m wasting energy with diluted focus. In other words, I have too many “pots on the stove” (as Sam Tooley would say) and that’s leading to increased time commitment, redundant messaging and reduced impact. The solution (as it stands now) is to get clear, be concise and be consistent with more concentrated content (quality over quantity).
I hope that answering these questions provides you with a clearer picture of the path ahead. One thing that I continued to learn is that the middle of anything can be messy but striving for clarity never hurts.
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I do a lot of different things (see here) and as I continue to reflect on the above questions, I’ll be making an uncomfortable effort to do fewer things as I strive to provide more value. If you’re in the same boat or have been through what I’m experiencing, I would love to hear your thoughts! Per usual, let’s end things with a quote!
Quantity impresses, and anyone can appreciate it at first sight. Quality isn’t as obvious, or as easy to appreciate. As if that weren’t enough, quantity is easier to produce, less labor-intensive, cheaper, less risky than saying: Not this.
Gabriel Zaid
Sometimes less is more.
Joe Rinaldi
IG: @joearinaldi
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