When listening to Episode 38: “Heartbreak Hotel” by Elvis Presley" of Andrew Hickey’s A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs podcast, his observation that:

“By this point, it was very clear that if Elvis was given control of the studio and singing material he connected with, he would produce great things. And if he was doing what someone else thought he should be doing, he would be much less successful.”

made me realize: I'm just like Elvis!

Like a lot of people, I juggle work that pays the bills and passion projects. The demands of my day job sometimes feel like drudgery, but the energy returns and I come alive when working on things that speak to me (like DailyInventory).

In my daily inventory, when I answer the competence prompt (like "What are 3 things you did right today?") the answers are almost always the things I care most about.

Elvis’s career shows the same contrast. When he sang songs chosen for him, the results were forgettable. But when he was free to pick material that spoke to him, he became Elvis — and music was never the same.

How about you? Are you like Elvis?