Worry less about what you want to be

Obama’s excellent advice: Focus on what you want to do, not what you want to be

“Worry less about what you want to be, and think more about what you want to do. Because this town is full of people who want to be a congressman or want to be a senator or want to be president.

And if that’s your focus, if that’s your moral compass, then you’re consistently going to be making decisions solely on the basis of how do I get, for me, what I want.

If you think in terms of what do I want to do? ‘I want to solve climate change or ‘I want to employ disadvantaged youth’ or ‘I want to fix a broken healthcare system’, then even if you don’t get to the place you wanted to be or the office you wanted, during that entire time you’re going to be working on stuff that’s real and getting stuff done…

Do great things.”

The question to ask yourself is not “What can I get?”

The question that will propel you the furthest and offer the most meaningful and satisfying course of action is “What can I give?”