Good Morning my Friends,

Here’s a cup of encouragement for you today. What might happen to our minds, hearts, and souls if we made MORE time EVERY DAY to do the things we love to do?

Much love,

Glenn || PATREON / BUY ME A COFFEE

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I read a story today about a guy who was in a band when he was a teenager, but then his dad got on his case and told him to get a "real job". The guy was making a little bit of money with the band and having the time of his life, but his dad wanted him to find a job where he made a lot of money even if it meant that it crushed his soul in the process.

And so the guy went job hunting and ended up getting a job at a company called Massey & Coggins where he spent his days cleaning their parking lot and sweeping their floors.

One day, though, the boss came outside and told him he admired the guy's work ethic and offered to put him into training to become a manager.

"A manager? Me? Wow!", thought the guy.

He told his dad about the recognition he received and his father was, of course, over the moon and (I'm sure, like most dad's) overflowing with a steady stream of "I told you so's".

Time went by and things were going well. He had a desk and probably an office and a significantly higher paycheck than he had when he was sweeping the floors. You could say that things were certainly moving full-speed ahead, going significantly better than he imagined they would.

One day, though, the guy's band members stopped by to tell him they landed a really big gig and they really wanted him to come and play with them.

"Nah", he said. "I've got this job now and ... I can't."

The band members were relentless, they really wanted him to be with them for this gig and so after going back and forth a bit, he thought to himself. "You know what? F*ck it." and he went to do the gig.

He ditched work that day.

He went and got his gear.

He joined the band for the gig.

And Paul McCartney never went back to Massey & Coggins.

This story struck me today because how many of us spend the majority of our days doing what we don't want to do?

This isn't about quitting your job, mind you - hear me out on that. The story isn't meant to push you to ditch your job and go do what you love. For many people that would reckless, irresponsible, and just wouldn't work. I mean, maybe that is what you need to do ... but it's not really the point of the story.

The point, rather, is that we need to ask ourselves a very serious question and be really real with ourselves; and the question is this:

How much time do we spend doing what we don't want to do at the cost of what we love to do?

In other words, are your days FILLED with what you don't want to do so much so that you have NO TIME to do what you love to do?

AND.

IF SO.

What might it look like for you to carve out space in your days to do more of what you love?

And that's an important question because science tells us that doing what we love to do (even for just a little while) has the power to change the chemistry in our brains.

In his book, "F**k It: Do What You Love", John Parkin says that, "real magic starts to happen when you're doing what you love. It changes your brain waves to the more relaxed alpha ones, and as a result - you're happier, you're healthier, and you seem to recruit invisible forces that make everything work more smoothly."

When I worked at Apple for 12 hours a day I made time for the things I loved. I didn't quit my job there after 11 years to start the What If Project podcast. Instead, I had spent 2 years building ...

160 episodes.

Hundreds of blog posts.

Reading hundreds of books late at night, early in the morning, and on every lunch break and 15-minute break.

Connecting with hundreds of people.

AND.

Before the What If Project I had a blog called Morning Encouragement that was about 4 years old and at one point I had written a new blog post every day for 500 days. I also put out 2 ebooks, ran countless online "Bible studies", and even put together a "Morning Encourage(mentorship) Program" where I helped local pastors spice up their social media presence.

AND.

Before that we had planted a church in our garage - we gathered a core team of people, we put together a vision statement, and we set out to make a dent in our community with the love of God.

AND.

In the middle of all of that I went to school to get my doctorate and write a 160-page dissertation about how the church could use social media and technology to connect with people and connect people to God.

... I tell you all of this because ALL of those things happened WHILE I was working for Apple, selling computers and phones and iPads for 10-12 hours a day. I spent the majority of my days doing something I really didn't want to do and had to be really diligent in making a little bit of time to do the things I loved to do.

Writing.

Reading.

School.

Podcasting.

Etc.

Honestly, I wouldn't have made it through my years at Apple if I didn't create space to do the things I loved to do when I clocked out of work.

As Parkin said in the quote, real magic happened when I made time to do the things I loved because it created a mental and emotional state that helped me make my way through the things I didn't love and has ultimately brought me to this place where, today, I get to do more of what I love than I ever imagined I would get to do thanks to my very supportive wife and best friend who is dedicated to help make this work for me, for us.

And so I wonder today ... what is your Massey & Coggins?

And what might it look like for you to carve out some time to go play the gig with your friends?

What might it look like for you to create some space to do more of what you love so that you can work some magic with your mental and emotional state?

Until Next Time ✌🏻🤙🏻

What If Project

☕️💭 Are You Doing What You Love?