Roles

Throughout this site, the term “role” refers to the different parts we play in different situations. Our motivations, our goals, even our behavior can vary greatly depending on the role we play. In the Pilot Fire Simple System for Everything, designing a balanced, passionate life depends on learning about our roles and tuning them for our unique skills and interests. The power comes from understanding why we do what we do, pursuing what it means to be our best, and finding people who support us through their modeling, honest feedback, inspiration, collaboration, and love, especially when we fail.

Every decision, goal, every plan, every action we take is enhanced by our understanding of our roles.

As we grow in our roles, they become very powerful and help us:

Focus on what is most important in every situation.
Develop deep skills in areas that matter most.
Achieve goals that give us purpose.
Feel better about who we are and why we make certain decisions.
Stay motivated.

To get started, try this simple exercise.

What Would _______ Do?

Of the many tools for building a passionate life, role models are some of the handiest. You can use them for making big plans and small decisions alike. Try them to unstick yourself. Bring them out when you’ve made a mistake. Here’s a simple way to do it that takes about 10 minutes. Step 1.

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Tweak Your Role ‘Till Ya Own Its Ass

Are you trapped by roles you feel obligated fulfill? … like, “I hate it, but I have to do it!” Maybe James Baldwin’s words will inspire you. (They inspired me!) “The roles that we construct are constructed because we feel that they will help us to survive and also, of course, because they fulfill something

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The Paradox of a Passionate Life

When you decide to pursue your passions, you must also confront the paradoxes you have avoided in order to stay comfortable. You must remain skeptical of your own motives, without falling into the trap of relentless Doubt. You must use the truth as your guiding principal, yet allow yourself a fair amount of denial, knowing

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Take a Tiny Step This Week

In last week’s post, To Hell with Our Emotions, I wrote about the some of the dangerous traps that keep us from doing what we really care about doing. Today, I’d like to offer a simple way to break out of an old habit, especially a habit of Passivity: Pause and reflect, make a decision, and

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Don’t Ask, Who Am I? Ask, Who Am I Now?

Amidst a culture’s obsession with finding your core essence, your single calling, the ultimate mission that aligns your life with your “true self,” I’ll make a contrary suggestion: Ignore the idea that you have one big reason to be in this world. Stop asking, Who am I, and why am I here? Instead, ask, What can

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A Simple System for Everything

There are many tools for making a life you believe in. The Pilot Fire system has roots in age-old philosophies and can grow into a lifetime’s deep practice. What’s fabulous is that you can find quick benefit even if you only use pieces of the system. Used all together, you can move mountains. In this

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