Here is your WORD of the day: AUTOTELIC
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Dear Friend,
Today, let’s look at the life of Vincent Van Gogh, considered one of the greatest painters of all time.
He started his career rather late, relatively speaking.
He didn’t pick up a pencil to sketch seriously until he was 27.
His first few attempts were not promising, to say the least.
He knew little about anatomy, or perspective – two essential traits for artists of the time.
By age 30, he was living in poverty.
But he was still sketching, though mostly for an audience of one – his brother.
Soon, he discovered colors, and the rest is history.
He started churning out painting after painting after painting.
Becoming one of the most prolific painters of all time.
He produced 700 drawings and 800 oil paintings, mostly over a span of 10 years.
Do you know how many paintings he actually sold while he was alive?
ONE.
That’s right.
Only ONE.
His work, considered unorthodox at the time, was largely rejected by society.
He only gained fame and acclaim posthumously.
Vincent Van Gogh was what legendary psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls AUTOTELIC.
What does it mean to be AUTOTELIC?
It’s a combination of 2 Greek words:
Auto = Self
Telic = Goal
In other words, when you pursue a goal that is an end in itself.
When an experience is autotelic, as Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi wrote in Flow, you pay attention to the activity for its own sake, not for any external reward.
You are not thinking about
Will I succeed?
Will people approve?
Will people like this?
What if they don’t like it?
What will that say about me?
BUT, you are pursuing the activity because
It brings you joy.
It helps you learn and grow.
And maybe, just maybe, it also helps or inspires others.
I wrote this message not knowing how many of you will read it, or like it,
But simply because it gives me joy to write about an inspiring idea.
Are you AUTOTELIC?
Please write back to me and tell me – what activity do you undertake for its own sake?
And if you enjoyed reading this, please pass this on to a colleague or friend who can also sign up for these weekly nuggets of wisdom here.
Warmly,
Bhavna Toor
Chief Mindfulness Officer
Shenomics
