You love what you invest yourself in

You love what you invest yourself inYou love what you invest yourself inUntil you love something, youll never give everything you have for it.Passion fades. Love only becomes more powerful, regardless of the outcome.Love is thehighest of all human motivations. The lower motivationsavoiding punishment/pain, seeking reward/pleasure, and dutyarent even comparable to the power of love.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreLove takes the attentionoff of youand places it on someone or something else. When you love something, you put it before yourself. Very few display this level of devotion, where youre willing to be and dowhatever is required.Where is your love directed?Give-Up Your Notion of AuthenticityIf you want to make improvements in your life, you need to fundamentally change as a person.The idea of changing yourself is off-putting to some. The desire to be authentic keeps people s tuck in unhealthy patterns. Said, David Heinemeier Hansson, author ofRework, Just be yourself is a terrible platitude for accepting the random attributes of character youve acquired thus far.According to psychologistCarol Dweck, having the belief in a fixed identity can interfere with growth. Your identity isnt fixed. Without the belief that you can growth and change, all of your choices would be meaningless and irrelevant.If you truly love someone, youll be who you need to be for that person. Your thoughts will be directed toward their happiness, not how they can make you happy. Your creativity will be towards creating meaningful experiencesfor them.If you love a particular cause, youll be who you need to be to bring that cause forward. You wont let your current deficiencies stop you. Youll get educated. Youll acquire skills. Youll develop relationships. Youll fail. You work. Youll look foolish.Its not aboutyou.Kierkegaard, Socrates, and Levinas all believed love is fundamentally d irected towardsomething outside oneself.An over-focus on yourself keeps you stuck in your head and worried about your own feelings, rather than out in the world doing good.Forget yourself and get to work. Become who you must be for the people and causes you love. It is only in devoting yourself wholly to something outside of yourself that you become self-actualized. It cannot happen is a self-absorbed and self-concerned manner.Being about something far greater than yourself is the most beautiful way to live.Completely Own Where You Currently AreIf you want a life more than you currently have, you must be more than you currently are. Said Benjamin Disraeli,Man is not the creature of circumstances, circumstances are the creatures of men.Your circumstances are a reflectionof you.If your relationships are toxic, whos to blame?If your finances are a mess, whos to blame?If you hate your job, whos to blame?Of course, there are external factors at play, but life organically shapes itself ar ound your standards. Untilyou change,your circumstances wont. To quote Darren Hardy,To achieve what you have not, you must become what you are not. You have to grow into your goals.Whatever it is you want in life, you mustbe that personbefore you can have it. Until you become that person, you are delusional. You wont live your dreams until you become the person whocreates those dreams.Said Jim Rohn,Success is not to be pursued it is to be attracted by the person you become.This reality has recently become very apparent to me. To be blunt, Ive been living far beneath the results Im seeking in my life. The reason is simple. I havent loved deeply enough.I havent loved my family enough.I havent loved my clients enough.I havent loved my work enough.I havent loved my life enough.Because I havent loved enough, I havent been the person needed to make these things as great as theycould be.Im not crying over this fact. Im not depressed. Im just stating the facts. Ive been selfish.Love is the only thing powerful enough to overcome everything holding you back.Chris Chann, professional skateboarderLove is powerful enough to make hard and sometimes irrational decisions.Love is powerful enough to commit to something for the long-haul.Love is powerful enough to get you out of bed at 5AM and get to work.Love is powerful enough to learn things and acquire skills to benefit the lives of others.Love is powerful enough to change you into someone more and better than you currently are.Love is always directed outward.You Love What You Invest YourselfInPeople often askHow can I know what I WANT TO DO? How can I know what Im passionate about?These questions are misdirected. Theyre overtly focused on themselves and their own happiness. Happiness cannot be pursued, it must ensue as the unintended consequence of devotion to something or someone else.Viktor Franklbelieved this too, explaining it as the very reason for both survival in Nazi concentration camps and for success in life.Rathe r than worrying about what youre passionate about, invest yourself in something you believe in.You grow to love what you put your energy into. You lovewhat you do well. You love what youve sacrificed for. You love what youve changed for.If you work hard in a particular class, youll love that class.If you work hard on a project, youll love that project.If you work hard writing a paper, youll love that paper.If you invest yourself in a relationship, youll love that person.Love comes from work. Its not a feeling. Its committed action. And commitment is a byproduct of investment.What do you love?Ready toUpgrade?Ive created a cheat sheet for putting yourself into a PEAK-STATE, immediately. You follow this daily, your life will change very quickly.Get the cheat sheet hereThis article first appeared on Medium.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin F ranklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people