"Find purpose in work itself, not just its output Green, who manages severe OCD that can make it hard to function, found that a clear sense of purpose acts as a practical buffer against overwhelm: "when I don't feel a strong sense of purpose, it's pretty hard for me to even get out of bed in the morning. But when I do, it's a lot easier." He also evolved past viewing creative work purely as a gift to an audience, concluding "I would write novels even if they were for an audience of zero because I find a lot of fulfillment in it." Seeking meaning inside the process — not only in downstream results — makes the inevitable hard stretches survivable and even worthwhile. Source: John Green, Happiness Lab / Ten Percent Happier (with Dan Harris), Everything Is Tuberculosis Episode"