Tools for Thought

How do you know that what you’re doing right now is absolutely the best thing that you could be doing right now? Where does what you’re doing now fit in the scheme of things? What is the point of it?

Whether or not there’s an absolute answer, most of us have experienced the sense of being on track, or perhaps more frequently, being off track. When you’re on track, you don’t doubt yourself. You know that what you’re doing is the “right” thing, however you measure it.

One framework for assessing whether or not you’re on track is looking at your activity along three criteria: engagement, perspective and purpose.

Engagement

Engagement is the intensity of your relationship with something or someone. We can often tell whether a person’s work is the right “fit” for her by looking at how engaged she is with it. When someone is truly engaged, there’s no mistaking it. She’s completely engrossed. When people love what they do, total engagement comes naturally. Even if they get off to a slow start, they don’t have to fight with themselves to carry on, because the congruent nature of what they’re doing carries them forward.

While it’s true that people doing what they love experience engagement, it doesn’t follow that people who experience engagement are necessarily doing what they love. It’s possible for people to throw themselves into their work for exactly the opposite reason: to avoid becoming conscious of doing work that they dislike. Instead of getting intrinsic satisfaction from their work, they use work as a narcotic or a form of escapism. By constantly keeping their nose to the grindstone, they never give themselves a chance to reflect on whether or not their work is authentically fulfilling.

Perspective

Perspective is the relationship between different areas of focus and time horizons. We’re always trying to maintain a dynamic balance between the different aspects of our lives. Each of these aspects, or areas of focus, is a role that has to be adopted or discarded on demand. Perspective requires temporarily disengaging in order to re-engage with a new set of priorities. A father going to see his daughter’s school play has decided at that moment that his role as a father is more important than his role as an entrepreneur, and that working on the business plan can wait.

People can be completely engaged in their work but lack perspective, which leads to work as identity. Overengagement in anything is, by definition, a lack of perspective. If one area of focus remains unfulfilled or unexamined for too long, it’s important to recognize it in order to avoid using another focus area to compensate for it. Spending more hours at work won’t fix a lack of attention on one’s health and fitness.

Perspective also involves time horizons. Something we do now may seem important in the moment, but not have any long-term significance. Some tasks are related to long-term objectives so far out that we need to reexamine how to tasks relate to the outcomes. Reviewing all actions, projects, and long-term goals regularly is the only way to stay on track.

Purpose

Purpose is reason you’re engaged with what and who you’re engaged with. The clearer your purpose, the broader your perspective, and the deeper your engagement. Some people can determine their purpose on the front end, by simply writing out a definition that resonates with them. Some people know innately what they’re after, and it’s too self-evident to bother writing down. For others, purpose is a continuous process of self-examination, of putting their best efforts out into the world and looking at the results for evidence of what motivated them.

If you’re in the latter category, and have trouble understanding or articulating your purpose, look for clues in your engagement and perspective. What are you engaged with on a daily basis? Are your actions congruent with where you place your attention, or is there a disconnect? Is there some area of focus — some need or value, that’s getting overlooked or overemphasized? Keep reviewing the alignment between engagement, perspective and purpose regularly. It’s hard to know when they’re out of alignment but easy to know when they’re in alignment: everything just works.

(Photo credit: Atomiche.com)

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