My nervousness has started to find a place of rest

If we’re going to stick around for the long haul, we have to find new reasons to do old things.

We have to rewire our mind’s motivational priorities. Otherwise it just feel like living the same goddamn day over and over again.

Phelps, the most decorated olympian in history, comes to mind. After twenty five years of work, he earned all the medals, shattered all the records, won all the awards and secured his spot in history as one of the most elite athletes of our time. Mission accomplished.

But he wasn’t finished with the water Far from it. Even in his retirement, he still shows up to the pool. Every day.

The only difference is, now the pool holds a different meaning. Phelps swims because he loves it, not because he desperately needs the world to love him for it.

And that’s the most inspiring part about his journey. He proves that once we’ve done enough to be okay with ourselves, we don’t necessarily have to stop doing the thing we do. We simply make the choice to shift the way we do it.

That’s the unexpected reward of success. Our brain chemistry changes. After a certain number of years, the motivational priorities of our mind permanently alter. The reasons that once drove us to win grow old and lose their power. And suddenly, we’re free to do things from a newer and cleaner and richer lace.

We can show up at the pool not because we have to, not because we need to, not because we’re expected to and not because it’s our job. But because we want to. Because we love it. Because it’s who we are in our bones.

My motivation for wearing this nametag has change significantly over the past twenty years.

It started as the fast track out of social isolation during a lonely period in college.

Several years into the experiment, as my business launched, the nametag grew into an effective tool for earning attention and approval.

Later, it became my brand that solidified my career as a writer and entrepreneur.

And yet, while all of those motivations served me well, they weren’t always the healthiest expressions of my heart. Wearing a nametag was, for years, an artifact of my insecurity, codependence and workaholism. And while those attributes are inside of me somewhere, I’m proud to say they’re under better control than they used to be.

My nametag no longer comes from a place that’s in any way unwholesome. As my nervousness has started to find a place of rest, there is nametag on my chest because I love it, not because I desperately need the world to love me for it.

The sticker comes from a place of joy and abundance, not from a place of proving and striving.

How have your reasons for doing things changed as you’ve grown? Are you willing to shift the way that you do what you love in order to gain new layers of meaning from it?

Remember, we all have to find new reasons to do old things.

Life is long, and if we’re going to stick around, we have to rewire our mind’s motivational priorities.

When will you have done enough to be happy with who you are?