My plan for helping others is to forget about them completely.
This writing I’m doing. Pouring my heart out on the paper every day… Isn’t about you — or anyone else. It’s totally selfish. It’s purely for me and I don’t really care if anyone else reads it or likes it.
Here’s why:
I intend to come back day after day and do this creative work.
I’ve got to keep the words churning and the fingers flying and that takes energy and motivation.
How am I going to keep that up if it’s not for me?
Unless I feel energised then I’m going to resent coming back to the page every day. I’m going to question why on earth I’m doing this.
(Let’s face it. I’m already questioning what the point is and whether I’m doing something completely useless. And this is WITH me trying to please only myself. So imagine what it would be like if I was trying to please someone else)
And I’m not just doing this so I get to feel smug and virtuous.
I’m hoping to transmit ideas and insights that hit their target and remain lodged there, burning with a deep and enduring fire. I want to have impact.
If I’m truly honest — I want to move people to tears. Move them to action. Light up their hearts. Make them feel awe at insights they never saw before. Really get a jolt of energy. Or shame. Or anger. Or beauty.
That’s a crazy high bar I’ve set for myself. It feels scary to mention it — even to myself. Most likely I won’t get there. Probably won’t come anywhere near it.
But that’s ok. I’d rather aim high and fall a bit short than hit a “low” target and leave plenty of my potential untapped.
How am I meant to transmit that sort of energy unless I can feel it myself?
There’s no hope if I try and manufacture something artificial. I’ve got to dig deep and find hidden resevoirs of authentic, untapped ideas that already flow with bristling energy inside me.
And there can’t be anything blocking the transmission of that idea. All the energy must get through.
That’s simply not going to happen if I try and communicate an idea I don’t really believe in.
The only way this can work is when I search for a source that wants to be tapped. The wellspring inside me that just wants to keep giving. And allow it to do its thing.
My contribution is merely to open the tap so the flow can get started. Then stand back and let the ideas pour forth onto the page under their own power.
It’s uncomfortable to let go of control like this. The likelihood of misfires is considerable. But it’s the only way I know that gives me the chance to hit an ambitious target.