Do
What You Love, Love What You Do
Do what you
love and love what you do and you will never work a day in your life.
That's an old expression from my Grandfather's era. And, like so many
things that my Grandparents taught me, it happens to be true. Well,
mostly true. No matter how much you love your vocation, there will be
days when it is hard work and you will most definitely not love it.
But, on balance, the folk wisdom holds true.
The
benefits of doing what you love are many and often self-evident.
People who have attained a more ideal vocation, or who are
working toward it, have
improved mental and emotional health. Further, successful people are
more content and have often earned respect and admiration from others
in their communities. When people succeed, they feel more secure and
have a better sense of connectedness and continuity. These
characteristics tend to translate to better family and social
relationships, not to mention the financial rewards associated with
being passionate and excellent in your work.
A valid
counterpoint to the discussion of finding your true vocation and
passion is that the rent still comes due and groceries must still be
put on the table. Sometimes you do indeed have to do whatever is
needed to survive. Personally, I have been one of those people who
have done whatever was needed to put beans and rice on the table.
More importantly, I have worked with hundreds of others who are
simply trying to survive. Regardless of the work performed, there are
personal benefits and growth opportunities to be found. People can
gain appreciation and respect when they work their way out of a
difficult time.
First of
all, even when working in a 'survival' job, it is critical to have a
dream, a goal, something realistic that is valuable to you, to work
toward. I suppose that I am advocating for hope and maybe a little
bit more. The survival job can offer you learning opportunities, a
chance to network with others and perhaps gain appreciation. If
nothing else, a job you hate can offer fabulous motivation to improve
your situation.
But this is
not a discussion about jobs you hate; it is about finding and
securing a job you love. The theme here is to find that thing, that
job, that career, that calling which speaks to you at a deeper level.
Unplanned unemployment, while often traumatic, can also offer you a
bit of freedom to explore and grow in your career, as a person and in
your life.
“Sigh...I
could have been a great
_____,
but now I never will. I wish that I had (College, High School, 1987,
etc.) to do over again.” Damaging
regrets
can be poisonous to our hearts, minds and general well being. Regrets
can have a positive influence as well, but I will save that
discussion for later. For now, my point is that damaging
regrets freeze us into the past, into always looking over our
shoulders at what never was. Who can drive ahead while staring into
the rear-view mirror?
Maybe
you really could
have been a
great _________. Maybe you still can
be a
great _____. If you fail to correctly evaluate your skills,
abilities, potential and situation, you are setting yourself up to
lose opportunity. Earlier, I advocated for hope and now I have
added dream.
In the interest of reality, there is
a
difference between dreams and hallucinations. But, the landscape of
our lives would be a dull battleship gray without an occasional
splash of color from our dreams. Feel free to take a moment and
envision what happens when you succeed in something you love.
I believe
that people who are doing what they love are likely to be very good
at that vocation. They perform with enthusiasm, passion and
endurance. This often translates to financial success. Moreover,
there is personal satisfaction and a contribution to better families
and communities. Attaining a high skill level will help lead to
future employment security and career accomplishment.
On
the 'avoid the pain' side of things, imagine thirty
years of
dragging your sad, exhausted butt out of bed and off to something you
hate, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. What is the toll? These
situations can result in damage. We harm our minds, our bodies and
even that indefinable thing called a spirit. Decades of pain harms
us.
So, with
the positives and negatives already discussed, why don't we do what
we love? I have already discussed getting locked into a survival job.
That job can be so immediately important, that we lose focus and
drift along, further out to sea than we ever imagined. We look up one
day and 30 years have passed. The current of time has pushed us
away.
No one
person controls the economy, technology changes, or even whether a
company is poorly managed. However, one barrier that we can control
is our attitude and the way that we talk to ourselves.
Enjoy your Job, Career, and Vocation,
Chris
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