The Polymath Who Advises We Put Butter on Our Waffles

If you’re not having fun, what’s the point?

In so much of life, we are driven by the outcomes we want to see and the things we want to accomplish.

We pick up a book in the hope of learning something new. We workout to lose weight and build fitness. We enrol in a course of study in the hope it will enhance our job prospects. We eat a meal to satisfy our hunger.

In each case, there’s a prospect of enjoying the process along the way, but in many ventures, we hope that’ll be a side-effect rather than deliberately setting out with that as an objective from the get-go.

As I scan through the library of Audiobooks on my iPhone there are many that I’ve devoured enthusiastically. From the first time I listened I was hooked and couldn’t wait to listen to more. There are plenty of others that I’ve reluctantly ploughed-on with, desperate to finish so that I could start a new one. Many of those are the so-called worthy titles — the ones that often appear in the ‘must-read’ lists of life’s luminaries and high-achievers.

I could have stopped mid-way and have saved myself some time to start and enjoy the next one. It’s evidence of my tendency to put the pursuit of fun or enjoyment aside in favour of doing what I think I must do or should do to grow, improve and achieve.

I have a problem.

I’ve come to believe that I suffered a minor existential crisis over the last few weeks of 2020. It may be the beginnings of a midlife crisis, or perhaps just a reflection of the events of 2020 finally catching up with me. Perhaps it’s the long winter nights drawing in and dragging down my mood.

Either way, I was struggling to find any sense of meaning in much of what I’m doing. Enjoyment was certainly lacking from life at the end of 2020.

The interview was a means of Collins promoting his recently published book ‘Beyond Entrepreneurship…

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