Necessary Tasks – ElPropósito3 min de lectura

How do we know we’re making progress?

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

With so much uncertainty in daily life, it’s easy to feel stuck. I see myself as someone driven by goals, and to some extent I like to say my Purpose in Life guides me. Still, a quarter of the way into the year, two things deserve a look: 1) time doesn’t stop, and 2) the lens through which I like to measure progress on my goals. In business we talk about metrics, but when it comes to something strictly personal, or to feeling that we’re moving forward in life, how do we know?

First, a basic principle: do what is within reach, what is in our hands. That’s how we find the first step. A first step is essential to any goal, and it’s our greatest source of inspiration. I like to call it the necessary task (or tasks). Every goal is made up of countless tasks, and I think we’ve fallen into the bad habit of trying to plan and execute ALL of them, in parallel or in sequence. In times as turbulent as these, a simple compass (a clear purpose) may serve us best.

Tasks, especially the necessary ones, give us the most fundamental feeling of all: the sense that we’re moving forward. How do we plan them? Often they come from instinct, a gut feeling. Sometimes they come from someone else’s advice. A third source is deep reflection, taking time to look a little further at our context and the reality we’re living.

Tasks mean work, and work takes time and effort, so the obvious question is: what are we aiming for? Doing for the sake of doing is like having for the sake of having. In the end the emptiness feels the same. A task tied to a purpose brings meaningful results that fill us with well-being, whether or not a particular result shows up after the effort. How do we know? Because there’s always something to learn from whatever we do with purpose. You can fill a calendar with meaningless tasks, and the harvest will be poor: fruit that looks like a result on the outside and is hollow inside.

The best tasks are the ones that move us toward our goals. They’ll always carry some uncertainty, which we can correct by aligning them with a purpose. We find the most meaningful tasks in the hardest moments, times full of obstacles when all that’s left is to keep working and trust that what we do, as long as it’s true to our north, will carry us through the storm.

Warm regards,

Rodrigo Baccaro

P.S. No VELA again this week. I’ve just wrapped up a work trip that gave me a great deal of knowledge and, above all, experience. What excites me most on the VELA front is that I’m picking up my Portuguese lessons again, so for the L in Learning something, that’s what I’m doing on this Spotify channel.

Author: Rodrigo Baccaro

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