Between a Rock and a Vague Place

Here’s something wild: the work I’m doing now is the work I dreamed about just a few years ago. I caught up to the vision I once had for the future.

In about thirty-five minutes, I’ll slip on my boots and head out the door toward a creative, challenging, engaging project. Exactly what I wanted.

So why doesn’t it feel like enough?

There’s this mindset we’re taught, subtly and persistently, that the next thing is what really matters. The current project, the one right in front of us, is just a stepping stone. A box to check on the way to the next shiny goal.

And it’s not just about work. This mindset creeps into everything, convincing us that someday, somewhere down the line, we’ll finally feel like we’ve made it.

If I can just get through this and get to the next project, we think, then someday I’ll feel complete. Like I’ve arrived. Like I’m finally ready to start living.

But someday never comes.

You can’t ignore the future completely. Businesses don’t work that way. You have to line up the next project, take meetings, and send emails. You have to plan for what’s next. But can you do it without turning the current project into something you just want to get through?

If you keep trading the present for the future, are you ever really living?