Determining Your Why
"If you could do anything, what would it be?"
Oh god, not this question again.
I had an epiphany about this a while ago and it changed my life. Check it out:
When we're young (like, younger than 10) we respond to this question with the coolest thing that we've dreamt up over our last glass of chocolate milk and legos (not in the same glass... two different activities). It's totally void of practicality, like pretending to jump across the fluffy white clouds to the pot of candy at the end of a rainbow.
COLIN, GET TO THE POINT OF THIS.
So anyway I've obviously gotten older and been lucky enough to immediately get a job and have some "success" getting the exact job I set out for. I use quotes because if this is success, this life thing is kind of boring.
What changed from when I was a kid to now? Perspective.
I got older. I learned that designing aircraft was a shot from the hip in the dark... I knew it only because I'm super into airplanes and vehicles and that seemed like the way to get the most involved while using my creativity. But, I never dug down deep enough to find what made me want to design aircraft.
As it turns out, if I could do anything I would want to make a real IMPACT on the universe through creating unique and distinct innovations. Through experience I found out that it just doesn't happen like that in my job... instead I'm just the first guy in a long line of people to bring yet another traditional aircraft into existence over about 20 years.
All things seem to happen in clumps. Shortly after a) discovering this, b) having my car engine blow, and c) having my girlfriend's car get stolen in the same two weeks, I found out about Dane Maxwell (founded The Foundation), Patt Flynn (runs the Smart Passive Income podcast), and Carl Mattiola (cool guy, check him out) to name a few. Dane says that the MOST important thing about starting your own company is knowing the WHY. Everything else will fall into place.
I agree with him more than I ever knew possible. If there is anything I've learned through going through the 24 hour suckfest that was aeronautical engineering school it's that people can learn ANYTHING. Just takes some focus, time, and practice. What TRULY matters is that along the way you are completely sure of why you're doing what you want to do. Then you'll figure out what, and THEN you'll figure out how.
So even if you've thought about it before, I encourage you to think about it again.
What would you do if you could do anything?
Don't just answer the question. Think about WHAT makes you tick, and why it does. Once you've got that figured out - no matter what it is - you'll at least have the balls to make it happen.