Startups have a boolean outcome -- you either succeed or you fail. Given that 90% of the time it's the latter, you need to figure out how to be fulfilled no matter what happens.
Fulfillment is as simple as regularly connecting to the things that matter most to you.
The only reason more people aren't fulfilled is because they have never taken the time to document what they value most.
My core Values are:
1) Excellence
What it means: I want to perform incredibly well at the things that matter to me
What it looks like: surprising myself by my ability to do something
2) Fatherhood
What it means: I want to be deeply connected to my sons
What it looks like: earning the respect of Royse or Parker as their father
3) Intimacy
What it means: I want to develop incredible memories with my wife
What it looks like: Mackenzie and I feeling incredibly seen by one another
4) Connection
What it means: I want to have authentic and vulnerable conversations with others
What it looks like: being so focused on someone else that the world disappears
5) Strength
What it means: I want to push the limits of my body
What it looks like: me, curled up on the ground in the fetal position after playing racquetball
6) Music
What it means: I want to experience music in my heart
What it looks like: having a physiological response to music
7) Community
What it means: I prize making meaningful connections between other people
What it looks like: watching people I introduced light each other up
Once you know what your Values are, you realize that you have the ability to experience most of them every day. Certainly every week.
What is one Value that matters to you? What does it mean and what does it look like?