This is a blog response to my hero Derek Sivers’ recent post What do you hate not doing?

1. I hate not playing my guitar to make up new music. That’s really the heart of what I like to do.  I’m a guitar-based “make-uper” of songs.  Every time I pick up a guitar, I can come up with at least one cool bit that can be used in a song somewhere.
2. I hate not being in touch with a big picture. I am obsessed about big pictures.  Life plans, career visions, big dreams.  I always look forward to my peer-mentoring sessions with my collaborators, because those are my dedicated time for talking big pictures.
3. I hate not talking to people about big pictures. I could care less about the weather or what you had for lunch.  If you come up to me and say “hi, my name is Tom, and the dream of my life is to go around the world in a yacht,” that’s the stuff that turns me on.  Let’s talk about your secret ambitions and cure for the world’s problems.
4. I hate not seeing my family.  Every once in a while I have days where I leave before my family wakes up, and gets home after they go to bed.  I hate those days, and I don’t have them often at all.

Wow, I can’t think of much else I can’t live without.  I really don’t need much.

What about you?