"If your goals are not exciting, then you have no business pursuing them."
- Richard Koch
What's the point of working for something if it bores you to tears? There's more to life than a treadmill desk and tea. And yet, whether it's because we're too scared to be ambitious or because we just want life to happen, many of us are stuck in an endless cycle of low expectations. But maybe that's where you're going wrong... creativity has long been known as an effective curative for boredom.
Richard Koch, author of How to Avoid Burnout in Your Life and Work, explains:
"The best way to avoid burnout is by finding something that can make you excited. If your goals are not exciting, then you have no business pursuing them."
Burnout stems from a lack of enthusiasm for the things you want to do. It's a sign that your life is not filled with meaning and purpose and that your goals don't excite you. So why get burned out? Try these two exercises at the end of this article that will help build excitement for the big things in your life that make it sustainable.
Excitement for the big things in your life that make it sustainable, from Richard Koch (aka RK ):
Exercise #1: Winners, Losers, and Boredom
Nashville Public Radio conducted a fascinating experiment. A group of participants were asked to choose between two options. One option was to receive $10 and the other was to win $100 in a lottery. On average, 80% of people chose the $10 offer. Twenty percent picked the lottery (and won).
Now consider a different scenario: The subjects were asked to choose between two options. One option was to receive $10,000 and the other was to win $100 in the lottery. On average, 20% of people chose the $10,000 offer. 80% picked the lottery (and won).
What happened? The choice of offers dramatically changed the number of participants who were willing to roll the dice. In other words, they were willing to take more risks for an opportunity that could give them a greater payout if they won. However, when faced with smaller rewards - $10 or $100 - most people became bored (the odds of winning are still 50%!). These results suggest that opportunities to win don't have to be big to be enticing. In fact, randomness is a huge part of what excites us.
What's the lesson? Excitement can be triggered by the things we do every day. These little choices add up and create something that we deeply enjoy. As I show in my book, Big Is Beautiful: The Case for Living a Great Life While Losing the Weight (Perigee), enthusiasm for making a difference is incredibly powerful. It can inspire you to make small changes that ultimately add up over time . The more you do, the more energy and excitement you'll have on your way to making the life you want to live.
Exercise #2: Creating Exciting Goals
We all have goals, but are they exciting? To find out, ask yourself these questions:
1) Am I excited about my goal? If you're not excited about your goal, then you should reconsider it. If it's not exciting to you, then how can it be exciting to anyone else? You are the most passionate advocate for your goal. Your excitement will fuel the emotions within and around your circle of influence that will make your dream a reality. Without excitement, no one is going to want to listen.
2) Are my goals urgent and important? This is a question that Robert Greene often poses in his bestselling books The 48 Laws of Power and Mastery .