We all have our little side projects
As a DIY enthusiast, I’ve had my share. Be it redecorating a wall, designing a lamp, building a bookshelf, or even creating a website.
Some were needed, some were decorative. Some were completely unplanned. I once landed in a workshop and learned how to craft a fiddle. Mortchego, my bat puppet, was also born out of sheer opportunity.
Several little projects were done just like this. Some ended up decent, some ended up great. And some were complete garbage.
But I felt oddly proud of them all. More than that: I felt successful.
As a matter of fact, those little (and perhaps pointless) tasks made me feel more successful than I felt about my own life and career.
Jeez.. I wonder why would that be? Why would random, unrelated projects feel so rewarding?
Purpose? Possibly. But we’ve all felt successful doing something just for the sake of it at one point or another.
I believe it all has to with how we approach things.
These “single-shot” projects act as little bubbles: standalone structures where we operate on a very functional mindset.
It encapsulates everything beneficial for a positive attitude and a successful output:
- Involvement – You personally want to see it happen…
- Focus – …and you’re willing to work on it…
- Persistence – …until you call it done.
Associated with a very clear objective and an often restricted time span.
Also, it comes from one single idea or concept, usually not very complicated nor hard to grasp.
Finally, it will almost always generate value, as little as it might be.
So, if you do some research on the secret of success (like this one), you can see why it’s easy to feel successful with simple side projects.
The question now becomes: why is it harder to feel successful about our life in general?
My hypothesis would be that little projects, encapsulated as they are, have its concept of success more roundly defined.
It is easier to understand. It is easier to achieve.
Because we humans have difficulty grasping a concept we haven’t defined (read this if you disagree).
As there is no global definition of success, we are in danger of following the expectations of others or running around in random directions. We ought to find our own!
And I our side projects might help us.
We just have to expand its encapsulated concept to our own careers, to our main projects.
One subtle step at a time.