Early in his career, Brian Lee juggled a bunch of projects. This included managing recording artists Dumbfoundead and Breezy Lovejoy. It was Brian who suggested to the latter that he should change his name to something closer to Anderson .Paak.
In addition to investing into their two careers, Brian also built a media platform and record label called Knocksteady, which he sold to Maker Studios. It was a lot of work.
Eventually, Brian had to choose one project. The criteria he focused on: what outcome would be more in his control? Which option would his efforts make more of an impact on?
That heuristic has been rattling around in my brain. I can imagine Brian choosing between investing more effort into trying to make one of his artists cross over into the mainstream, or deciding to help lead a rapidly growing company. Did he have more influence over helping an artist go mainstream, or a company growing quickly?
When it feels painful to decide between two projects that fulfill you, maybe this could be the deciding factor: which one will your effort make a greater impact on? Which outcome do you have greater control over?