In 2021, I left my traditional career track in finance to go all in on writing and creative work.
I assumed that more time inputs would mean more, and better, outputs.
I was wrong.
The writing, once a highlight of my day, had taken on the feel of a job. The passion had become work.
As it turns out, there's real science that helps explain why. It's called the Overjustification Effect: When an expected external incentive decreases a person's intrinsic motivation to engage in an activity they already enjoy.
In this piece, I wrote about how I learned to protect the things I love from the weight of expectations and why I think you need to become a beginner again.
It's a small rebellion in a world that wants you to do everything with some purpose in mind.
You don't have to get good at every single thing you do. You don't need to attach metrics to every pursuit. Not everything has to become something.
Some things can just be.
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