Are you trying something new and wondering if it will be sustainable? Do you wonder if it will be worth it? Maybe you are thinking of beginning a new journey and don’t know how to make the decision to pull the trigger.
I found some measures that may help.
Tribal
Does the activity provide a strong sense of community?
Are the individuals you interact with some of your closest friends or comrades? Or, do they have the potential to be?
Do you have an important role in this community?
Life Long Learning
Is there a skill that you are developing?
Can this skill be continuously improved upon?
Is each experience different than the previous?
Individual Styles
Is there somewhere within this new experience that you can carve out a special place for just yourself?
Will others in your community benefit from your own style?
By others benefiting, will the style that you develop have room to improve?
Promotion
Are there opportunities to be promoted within this new experience that are not artificial? That is, when promoted, do both the community and yourself know and understand you have earned and deserve it?
Does such a promotion provide an indescribable sense of joy in the achievement?
Is there no end to such promotions?
Craving
After an hour or two of this new experience, do you yearn for another half hour? Another half hour beyond that, even?
Is it providing the good kind of stimulants? That is, does it release endorphins such as oxytocin, beta-endorphin, and norepinephrine?
Between sessions of these experiences, are they continuously on your mind? Are you critically thinking about each experience and how the next experience can be improved upon?
Where These Measures Came From
Not long after delving into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, I wondered why I was loving it so much. I asked myself why it was consuming my mind.
Three days after my 5th class (as if they were reading my mind), Evolve Daily responded with the article, “Here’s Why You Will Fall In Love With Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.”
The ideas for the measures in this post came from that article.
The Shaw Show 
These are super useful questions. I particularly like the tribal questions, because I usually forget to ask them. It’s easy to forget about the social aspects of a new activity and the influence others have on us.
The craving aspect is crucial, too. I’m beginning to feel that with learning R, though I’m still a rank beginner. It’s a good sign!
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If you can answer yes to most, or address the area so that it can become a yes, the rewards are amazing!
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