Comments on: How Letting Go of Outcomes Helps Your Work (and why you should try it)

By: Dan Cumberland

Dan Cumberland — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 14:58:53 +0000

In reply to Levi Carter. haha. Well, that's ok. It's still a great moment. :-)

By: Levi Carter

Levi Carter — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 13:25:06 +0000

Well in a recent argument with my wife about my onsetting mustache I shouted, “I’m not growing a mustache so people will like it, I growing a mustache because it’s the right thing to do!” …wait, I’m positive that’s not what you were looking for, ha.

By: Dan Cumberland

Dan Cumberland — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 00:57:52 +0000

In reply to Levi Carter. Love this, Levi! Thanks for reading and sharing. I'm curious if you have your own version of that statement: I write because that's what writers do?

By: Dan Cumberland

Dan Cumberland — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 00:55:27 +0000

In reply to Paul G. Love it. Way to go Paul!

By: Levi Carter

Levi Carter — Sun, 20 Mar 2016 22:09:23 +0000

Thanks Dan, my experiences in Business and Pastoring have all been metric driven. As I enter a season where I’m focusing more on my writing I’m realizing those same tendencies are not helping me enjoy the journey!

Being Results or “Fruit” driven is inherently bad, but I’m learning that not all fruit is measurable – we may see no numerical growth month over month in our small groups but the level of authenticity in our small group dialogue may get way better – something that’s huge but is an intangible that can’t be measured.

Anyway love the thought, “I don’t write because I want a readership or to get published, I write because I’m a writer and that’s what writers do.”

By: Paul G

Paul G — Fri, 04 Mar 2016 17:52:44 +0000

I threw an event this past weekend that was incredibly near to my personality, my line of work, and the connections I’ve made over the past five years. It aligned completely with the work I want to try and keep doing. I LOVED being able to generously invite people to attend, participate, have their eyes opened to the possibilities. I also completely knew that some people definitely wouldn’t come, wouldn’t care, or would do the opposite and mock it. But I really, really didn’t care. Because I knew it was what I had to do, what I was passionate about doing. And if they didn’t respond, the event wasn’t for them anyways.

By: Dan Cumberland

Dan Cumberland — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 19:26:19 +0000

In reply to Annisa Tangreen.

Hi Annisa! Great thoughts here. I totally agree. I’m all about making work something more than just a chore, as you said.

And yes, I write about both loving what you do and doing/finding what you love— more of that latter than the former, but they’re often two sides of the same coin.

So glad to have you with us!

By: Annisa Tangreen

Annisa Tangreen — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 18:29:21 +0000

Great post, Dan! I like your observation: “It’s about you doing something that you love and offering it to the world— regardless of its reception.”

When we’re doing the thing we love, we are acting from a point of authenticity and our egos are nowhere to be found. That’s when we derive the most satisfaction from our work.

For most of us, especially those of us raised to think of work as an obligation, i.e. something we must do in order to live up to society’s expectations of us, work is synonymous with “chore”. It’s a role we must play. Because of this, it’s tied strongly to ego. The more “successful” we are, the better we feel about ourselves.

I like that you write about finding meaning in what you do–or is it finding something to do that means something to you? Either way, I’ll be following your blog. 🙂

By: Dan Cumberland

Dan Cumberland — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 00:07:45 +0000

In reply to Kate Davis. Yes. I get this. I wonder though if what you dislike about the promotion is the slow growth and lack of immediate results? I know that's where I struggle when it comes to the social media and the blog. Maybe that's not the case for you. Or maybe it is. Hope that helps!

By: Kate Davis

Kate Davis — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 22:27:22 +0000

If I could really believe the work was worth doing in and of itself, I wouldn’t have to do all the promotion stuff (which I don’t love). But I don’t write not for the sake of writing alone. I write as one way to share ideas with others, and there are too many demands on readers to just hope they stumble across my site.

(Or maybe this is all despair…)