Wildly new ways
📪 The Optimal Agent Newsletter #036
Take Action:
List 10 wildly new ways to achieve your “why.”
Why It Matters:
Major obstacles to achieving your desired goals cannot be overcome with minor lifestyle changes. Instead, you may need to consider radical new paths — how would you achieve your “why” if there were no constraints?
How To Do It:
Write down your core goal or source of meaning as simply as possible. This should result in a one-sentence “why.” For example, “I would like to help end rural poverty.”
Write down at least 10 different paths you could take to achieve that goal. In our example, you could run for local or State office, join an economic development org to bring new jobs to rural areas, provide meals to food insecure children, become a grant writer, start a non-profit Public Relations firm to highlight the issue, start a company to bring fiber optic broadband to internet-poor places or become a mentor for an at-risk rural teenager (etcetera).
Reflect. Given the sheer volume of possible paths to achieving your “why,” how should you proceed? Does your current lifestyle give you the necessary Agency to achieve your “why”? What major changes do you need to make?
Explore More:
Listen: O.A. Podcast Episode #36: Exploring Alternative Paths, where we provide a thorough framework for analyzing, brainstorming, and fixing professional burnout — permanently.
Read: The Real Meaning of Freedom at Work by Adam Grant
Watch: Simon Sinek’s original TEDx Talk: Start with Why
