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As I continue exploring the field of personal productivity (and a possible new career in it), I'm pursing a number of possibilities (i.e., experiments), each of which requires time and energy to move ahead. However, they all have varying probabilities of success,
none of which I know. So the question is: How much effort should I put into each one?
[1]One popular answer I've come across is to
Follow the energy, the concept of letting nature itself tell us which experiments are promising. Here are two great descriptions I've found:
In
Follow The Energy to Mine the Gold in Life, Dale Dauten says
As I talked to Orloff, I realized that the old advice to "follow the money" had led most of us astray, and the newer advice, "follow your passion," is distracting, for most people confuse amusements with passions. The better formula is "follow the energy." Follow it far enough, and you may even find your way to the lap of the gods.
Fred Gratzon gives us a different perspective; in
Which Passion Should I Pursue?, he says
My advice would be to pursue them ALL until one starts to show a little promise. At that time, feed that new sprout with more attention. In other words, where there’s smoke, pour gasoline. [...] If it has potential, then that potentiality will show itself soon. If it doesn't, then you know you need to make a course correction.
So how do we know which efforts are expanding, and which are contracting? Or, as Gratzon might put it,
"Where do I pour the gas?"My initial thought is we know when either a) the energy received exceeds the energy given (
resonance), or b) when the effort comes back in novel and surprising ways (
transformation). Here are a few examples:
- Your network and reputation grow - people voluntarily and happily tell others about you and your work.
- Responses to your inquiries are excited and helpful - people listen to you, offer suggestions, and help set your direction.
- Your ideas connect into (and stimulate) others - people relate your ideas into the culture, and other projects.
IssuesI can see a few areas to be concerned about when following the energy. First, there's a risk of ignoring an area that isn't initially promising, but that has hidden potential. In this case I'd suggest keeping an eye on it, and being ready to put more into it if it re-awakens.
Second, I would be concerned about blindly following something without giving some thought to why things are going this way. For example, I would hate for a lack of communication or other skills to artificially contract opportunities. In other words, I would want to learn from the "failures" - maybe there's something deeper going on that needs my attention.
However, in spite of the issues I think following the energy is a nice idea. I'd love to hear
your ideas and stories about this.
References[1] Note that this is different from the question of
which direction(s) to pursue. I've heard the latter called "Following your bliss/passion." Gratzon has a nice article on it in
Finding Your Calling. The bliss idea comes from
Joseph Campbell.
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