What is the problem you are here to solve?

This short(ish) post is a follow-up to my last post on GTD and the higher levels of altitude David Allen speaks about.

What I have learned, through journaling, is that there is a common background melody to my life. Whatever I am involved in, and if you look at my LinkedIn profile you can see I have been involved in quite a number of activities, both professional and personal, I find that melody back.

Now, the interesting thing is that I never even considered the existence of this melody, this common theme to all my endeavours, until I started journaling. There was an occasional glimpse of that theme, but my consistent failure to identify it has actually led to quite a few instances where I was actively working against that theme, thinking I was doing a good thing.

Self-reflection, while it should never be taken too far, is a great means to identify that very soft but always present melody. That melody which some call your inner voice and some find in meditation practice, something I consistently fail at, is at the core of who you are and provides you, day in and day out, with an answer to the question: “What problem are you here to solve?”

A word of warning. You may be surprised about what you can hear yourself saying when you really listen. It may actually be an answer you were not expecting. It may certainly not be about following your bliss, about achieving riches and becoming famous. It may even not be about being ‘happy’ Then again, happy is a fleeting emotion and may well be seriously overstated.

However, what I have found and believe to be true is that ultimately identifying your melody, what makes you tick, your inner voice, and then going on that voice to try and live consistently with that voice will lead to achievement, and meaning.

Enjoy your search and your travels. I do. You see a reflection of it whenever I write a blog post.