I read this and said “huh?” I know…lame, right? Well, at zenhabits.net there is a description of amazing that resonated with me. He says …
“Amazing is in the eye of the beholder – Mozart's Amazing Work would be different than my Amazing Work. We should all strive to be the greatest we can be. Amazing Work can be any kind of work, if it's fulfilling your potential.”
Wow. Finally. Somebody offers a definition that I not only understand, but can honestly say I am now doing! Hey, this is my revelation – not to worry, it will make sense in a moment.
As a kid I was the odd ball in the neighborhood, the new kid in school and the overall weird person of the church group. Why? Well, because we moved every 18 months to 2 years (yup, military! then followed by retail management). This resulted in my attending 4 grade schools, 4 high schools, belonging to many church groups and overall being ‘different' than anyone else – I was a foreigner, an oddity. I didn't know where the old Sears building used to be, or the old middle of downtown, or Old Man Gribber's barn. I was new and they were talking about old.
Being the new kid, the odd kid, the kid from ‘somewhere else', showed me the importance of fitting in and conforming. And against my nature, against my gut and against my instincts I worked hard to conform and be like every one else. Yes, it got a bit hinky about the 3rd school, but I hung in there because I knew there would be an end to it all soon. And yes, I finally graduated high school and began the road to maturity (no comments from the peanut gallery please).
As an adult, I've come across this silly statement many times. And every time I read it I was bamfoozled. I had spent my entire 12 years of school trying very hard not to be amazing. Trying very hard to be like everyone else because it seemed to make things easier for me. How in the world was I supposed to do this now?
All I can say is thank goodness for Leo Babauta. He laid it out for me. He made it simple, so even I could understand. He said:
How to Find Your Amazing Work
The first key: start looking.If you don’t ever look for it, it’s not likely to just fall into your lap. Once you start looking for your Amazing Work, you’re much much more likely to find it. That sounds kinda obvious, but it’s surprising how many of us will go through our work days (and years) without trying to find our Amazing Work, for many reasons. Maybe we don’t believe in ourselves, maybe we don’t think we have the time, maybe we’re putting it off until someday.
Well, start believing in yourself. Make the time. Make someday today.
And start looking.
And I did. I looked for and found what I wanted to do. I decided that no matter what, I was going to own a business that provided business research, training, and marketing help to other businesses. I had little faith in myself, but had plenty from family and friends…enough to get me started.
Today I feel like I'm doing Amazing Work. Not only am I building a business that provides a worthy and valuable service to other businesses, but I am also teaching others how to improve their own businesses. I provide seminars and webinars about using social media as a professional, about online marketing, about business research and how it can save them time and money.
So now I ask you – who stopped by and read this post today – what are you doing? Are you doing Amazing Work now? If not, is it because you never thought about it or because you felt held back?
