“To find your vocation and keep it… is a simple and solid rule of life. We however prefer to give impartial expression to all our gifts, forgetting that the mind is as mortal and as much subject to wear and tear as any perishable thing, forgetting that specialism is one condition of the highest accomplishment, forgetting that our stock of energy is limited and that what we expend in one direction we lose in another. We insist on burning the candle at both ends.”
– Sri Aurobindo
What lies at the root of boredom? The constant search for novelty from the next shiny object or mindless repetition of the same thing. The lack of focus. Such boredom doesn’t just make life feel listless; it also wastes our energy and time.
This is why we must direct our time and effort in the mindful repetition of activities that lie in our circle of competence.
If you haven’t discovered your circle of competence yet, here’s a three-question framework recommended by renowned business author Jim Collins:
- What am I deeply passionate about?
- What am I genetically encoded for—what activities do I feel I’m made to do?
- What makes economic sense—what can I make a living at?
Work to build expertise in the activities that lie at the intersection of the above questions, and say no to everything else. When you make progress in the areas of your passion, you will feel motivated to continue. But if you move in ten different directions, you will end up bored, exhausted, and stagnant.
“Nature gives us quartz profusely and mixed allow in abundance, but pure gold only in rare parcels and infinitesimal portions,” Sri Aurobindo wrote. It’s a tragedy to waste the gold because we’re busy amassing quartz and mixed alloy.