So, you’ve probably heard this super popular saying at least once:
“Love what you do and you’ll never work another day in your life.”
The saying implies that you’re making, or attempting to make, a living off whatever it is you love to do; which is something we should all certainly strive for. After all, if you’re doing whatever it is that you love the most, the thing that you’re most passionate about all day every day, and you’re managing to live off that, then it stands to reason that you’ll never experience another day full of stress, anxiety, or hardship. Right?
The answer is Hell-to-the-no. The things I’m passionate about often end up making me want to bang my head against a wall at least twice a day.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t love doing them, of course I do It just means I would be straight up lying to you if I said it never felt like work and didn’t give me some level of stress, anxiety, or hardship.
I consider myself to be a fairly outgoing and confident person. I tend not to mind what other people think of me, and I like criticism; because it helps to make me (and my work) better.
That being said, it’s still intimidating to put something, anything, out there for the entire world to potentially see, knowing that they could shamelessly love it or mercilessly hate it. Or, worse yet, be completely indifferent towards it.
But I, and countless others, choose to do it anyway… because the consequences of not doing it at all severely outweigh the potential consequences of doing it and failing. I think “this is who I am, this is what I think I’m good at” and so I choose to express that, because what would life be if I didn’t? I can’t imagine that I’m the only one who feels this way.
And that’s just the emotional stress of it.
Most of us can’t help but to be our own worst critic. It’s hard not to be a perfectionist when it comes to any type of work that you’re passionate about because, obviously, you want whatever it is you’re working on to be the absolute best it can be. You want your work to be well liked, admired, and well received; but more than any of those things, you want to be able to step back, look at what you’ve done, and be proud of it. You want to admire your own work the same way you admire the work of those that inspire you, which often leads to setting damn near impossible standards for yourself.
So hours are spent pouring over ideas and concepts, working and re-working, changing and unchanging. We spend so much of our time on our work, sacrificing food and sleep, just to make whatever it is we’re working on the best it can be. But even after all of that, we may end up discarding the project altogether because we know it isn’t what we saw in our mind’s eye. And so, it goes in the drawer, or in the trashcan, or in the box, never to be seen by anybody but ourselves.
And when that happens, it can be soul crushing. It makes us feel like we should give up altogether, that nothing that we’ve made prior is good enough and that nothing we’ll make in the future will be good enough either.
But that feeling be damned, we persevere and we keep working anyway
So, we continue to push ourselves. We continue to succeed and fail and succeed and fail repeatedly, getting better and better each and every time we do, because we love doing it. We love thinking about what it can become, and we love chasing and realizing the goals we’ve set for ourselves.
So, if you’re attempting to pursue something, anything at all, that you claim to love, don’t expect to love every second of it, because there’s an inherent sacrifice that comes with not only attempting it, but wanting to be great at it.
And it SHOULD be that way. It should be demanding, and it should be challenging. Because that proves, that if you succeed, you really did love it. You poured your entire being into it, you gave yourself to it, and you made it a reality. Not because it was easy, not because it was simple, but because it was hard, but you decided you didn’t care that it was hard, and that your love for it outweighed the difficulty and uncertainty of it.
In this way, you prove to yourself that you could do something that not everybody else can do; because if it was that simple, if it really did make you feel like you were never working another day in your life, then everybody would do it.. and that would kill its meaning.
Hmmm the statment should be revised as 'do for what you love (money)' haha.
Thanks for your sharing!
Haha no problem! : )
Life is tough, just the way it is, you can either let it turn you into an A-hole or suck it up and drive on.
Beautiful response, couldn't have said it better! xD
Find the game you love to play and play it everyday. Even the world chess champion has to show up and lose sometimes.
Yeah, even doing what you love to do is stressful. There is nothing easy in life.
Exactly. Anything worth doing well is going to take a certain degree of struggle. That's the reality of it, but that's what makes it worth doing.
well if you do what you do for a purpose and it is what you believe is right, than nothing can stop you. Also realizing that life is not about happiness help in that by actually making you more fulfilled
Couldn't agree more. Also hey, your hair is straight.. your username is a liar! ; )
To be honest with you, there's enough room in this world to go live off the wild still. People have done it since forever, we live in the rat race and suffer these jobs we hate because we choose to.
Nobody forces us to work, go on holiday, have nice things. Everything in our lives is because we chose it. (Except obviously illnesses and other misfortunes) but the rest we choose. We shouldn't moan about what we have.. just change it.. you might not change it tonight or in 5 years but aim to change your life.
I moan a lot about silly things, I know I'm doing it but can't help myself.. I mean maybe that's why we've progressed so much as a race because we're never satisfied so we keep pushing ourselves for more (getting tired and being sad along the way).
Enjoy the weekend.
It's human nature I suppose. Just don't forget, nothing has value until two people come together and decide what that value is.
You can't love doing the same thing everyday , one time or another you get tired and want to change your ways . It's better to already be multitalented! Upvoted
Agreed, being multifaceted is truly the key. But I truly think theres something about really mastering a craft that almost nobody experiences. Myself included, at least at this point in my life!
I guess everyone just needs something that will help them settle down once and for all
I just change professions from bartender to a social media director and I totally agree with you brother! lol
Still, being a bartender would be pretty cool!
It was! Here in South Florida it's pretty badass but after 6 years anyone needs a change
At the end of the day, work is work, whether you love to do it or not, you likely HAVE to do it. Choosing to do something that you love, and being able to make a living from it, is an amazing deal. Again though, it's still work, so at some point, there will always be stresses and hard times. That is life.
Great post!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.
I think that even if you like what you're doing you have to put in the work and work to reach your goals
Absolutely
I've often thought, if I had the option of going professional in a hobby that I enjoy, would I do it. The quick response is "Of course, I would get to do what I enjoy all day every day".
However, if I had to do it every day to support myself, would it still be an enjoyable hobby, or would it be just another JOB? For instance, I like to play golf (although I hardly ever have had a chance to play in the last 10 years), but if I suddenly was able to go pro, and had to spend hours each day on the driving range, hours on the putting green, and hours practising chipping, how long would it take until I despised my enjoyable hobby?
I don't think you ever despise it if it's something you truly love and enjoy doing. But you become humbled to what it truly means to pursue it with love. Think about our relationships. We love the people we choose to spend our time with and give ourselves to, but it can be hard, it can be frustrating and yes, it can take work.
But we do the work because the relationship is worth it. Our love for it is stronger than our dissatisfaction.
Something like that haha
Very true, and good analogy about relationships. I think a lot of the things I enjoy doing when I want to, I would not enjoy as much if I had to do it. Maybe it says something about me that my free choice and part in the decision plays a large role in my degree of satisfaction. AKA- I'm a control freak! lol
You're bored of monotony.
I'm a firefighter and I do genuinely love my job but, like the man said, sometimes when I go to work and see the stuff I see....
And you're a hero for doing what you do. If I could give more with my upvote, I would. Soon, hopefully ; )
Your absolutly right, when your doing what your good at, you will easly complet the task with less stress, and you will be enjoying the work. When you find yourself in work environment that your not familia with, it will stress your life. Good job, you did justice to the write up. Keep it coming.
Thanks, got another coming here in a bit!
No problems, we are here to ready good content and support each other. Let it flow.
thanks for this post &upvoted it. looking forward to ur next post. hope u will upvote my top posts.
Got ya friend!
Goddamn truth right here. I have never actually thought about this, so I am very grateful I happened to stumble upon this post which opened my eyes and made me think quite a bit. Thank you.
I'm glad you like it, you're welcome : )
I agree. Watching interviews with successful people in any industry... Many of them will say how they wanted to quit so many times out of pure frustration. They still loved what they were doing but people always think it happens overnight and you're a big success. They don't see the hours days weeks months years you sink into it.
Been there, done that.
I gave up college for the things I loved doing (freelancing), and I started working every single day, sometimes for more than 8 hours a day. I loved doing it, but not always.
I had days when I literally wanted to give up and find a normal job, and days when I felt so frustrated with my work I wanted to break my computer. I can still remember the day I tried to create a design work and after 4 hours of constant working I had to delete everything because it wasn't what I wanted.
The thing is that I got into a worse situation too. I've been in a position where I was doing kind of what I liked, but I only had money in mind. I worked for hours every single day, but I did not care about quality that much, and I did whatever I needed in order to receive more and more money.
I don't advice anyone to get in that kind of situation. It's horrible to see your work get worse and worse because you don't work from passion any more, but from the need of money.
Anyway, great article, good job, and best of luck :)
Perfectly put, and right on the money. Or, wait. Something. Anyway, this is such a critical point to make to a generation that's being told that following their passion is the only way to true happiness--and then that happiness is a permanent, all-the-time condition, and if it goes away, something's wrong. Instead, as you say, happiness is a byproduct of doing productive work, and all work is WORK at some point. Usually for a long time, before it starts to pay you anything.
Well today it paid you something. Congratulations.
Thank you, can't wait to keep providing content to you guys. I'm just happy you enjoy.
Yes. It seems to be part of the modern malady of aversion to hard work and responsibility.
Spot on! Meaning is forged in the fire of our personal trials and tribulations. Failure teaches, strengthens and ultimately helps us to discover our authentic self.
It's not just about doing what you love, but also, learning to love what you do (or change it), including all of the challenges, failures, setbacks and suffering that are par for the course.
Striving to live a life rich in meaning and purpose, and not one of total comfort and security, protects us from nihilistic tendencies in the midst of inevitable suffering. As Nietzsche said,
Thanks for such a detailed response, also like the Nietzsche quote you included!
I'm glad you enjoyed the post and I hope to hear from you again in the future : )