How do you evaluate the output of your life?
Is it your professional success or your relationships or something else, what makes a life great?
A friend texted me the other day to say that he was’t satisfied with the output he had produced over the last month. He hadn’t been able to produce artwork he felt proud of and hadn’t made any sales either. Thus, his output over the previous month had been a dismal zero.
Then he also told me that he had successfully changed a habit (he now sleeps early and wakes up early), blocked a toxic relationship out of his life, cut down on excessive expenditure and made monetary investments in his business.
When I heard him say all those things, I was like wow! I then asked him to reevaluate his output for the month because in my opinion, he had done incredibly well even if he hadn’t produced an ‘output’ in the conventional sense. Helping him change his perspective helped me realise that I’m guilty too. I often tend to evaluate the output of my life in terms of the results I produce which is a narrow-minded way of looking at life.
Let’s look at an example. Student A scores a 100% in the finals but doesn’t spend any time playing or making friends or having fun while student B scores 80% in the finals but he spent his mornings training for football, made new friends at his football coaching and has grown more confident of himself over the last year. Who, in your opinion, produced a better output?
We often fail to look at the entire picture when we view our own life. Instead we mark ourselves against parameters that only focus on one aspect (usually the professional) and ignore the others which is a BIG MISTAKE.
HAPPY PEOPLE are usually not the most brilliant ones in the room but the ones who live a fuller life. When you sit down to evaluate your output over the last 3 months or last year or your entire life, don’t just look at the results you achieved but instead ask yourself did you change a habit, did you make a new friend, did you eat healthier, did you sleep better, did you smile more and complain less etc.
If you answer yes to even a few of the above, you’re doing great! Pat yourself on the back and keep going. Your output has been a happier life and that’s more precious than any got damn results you could produce!