Bad career advice: Do what you love
One of the worst pieces of career advice that I bet each of you has not only gotten but given is to “do what you love.”
Forget that. It’s absurd. I have been writing since before I even knew how to write – when I was a preschooler I dictated my writing to my dad. And you might not be in preschool, but if you are in touch with who you are, you are doing what you love, no matter what, because you love it.
So it’s preposterous that we need to get paid to do what we love because we do that stuff anyway. So you will say, “But look. Now you are getting paid to do what you love. You are so lucky.” But it’s not true. We are each multifaceted, multilayered, complicated people, and if you are reading this blog, you probably devote a large part of your life to learning about yourself and you know it’s a process. None of us loves just one thing.
I am a writer, but I love sex more than I love writing. And I am not getting paid for sex. In fact, as you might imagine, my sex life is really tanking right now. But I don’t sit up at night thinking, should I do writing or sex? Because career decisions are not decisions about “what do I love most?” Career decisions are about what kind of life do I want to set up for myself?
So how could you possibly pick one thing you love to do? And what would be the point?
The world reveals to you all that you love by what you spend time on. Try stuff. If you like it, you’ll go back to it. I just tried Pilates last month. I didn’t want to try, but a friend said she loved the teacher, so I went. I loved it. I have taken it three times a week ever since. And it’s changed me. I stand up straighter. (I’d also have better sex, if I were having it. The Pilates world should advertise more that it improves your sex life: Totally untapped market.)
Often, the thing we should do for our career is something we would only do if we were getting a reward. If you tell yourself that your job has to be something you’d do even if you didn’t get paid, you’ll be looking for a long time. Maybe forever. So why set that standard? The reward for doing a job is contributing to something larger than you are, participating in society, and being valued in the form of money.
The pressure we feel to find a perfect career is insane. And, given that people are trying to find it before they are thirty, in order to avoid both a quarterlife crisis and a biological-clock crisis, the pressure is enough to push people over the edge. Which is why one of the highest risk times for depression in life is in one’s early twenties when people realize how totally impossible it is to simply “do what you love.”
Here’s some practical advice: Do not what you love; do what you are. It’s how I chose my career. I bought the book with that title – maybe my favorite career book of all time – and I took the quickie version of the Myers-Briggs test. The book gave me a list of my strengths, and a list of jobs where I would likely succeed based on those strengths.
Relationships make your life great, not jobs. But a job can ruin your life – make you feel out of control in terms of your time or your ability to accomplish goals – but no job will make your life complete. It’s a myth mostly propagated by people who tell you to do what you love. Doing what you love will make you feel fulfilled. But you don’t need to get paid for it.
A job can save your life, though. If you are lost, and lonely, and wondering how you’ll ever find your way in this world. Take a job. Any job. Because structure, and regular contact with regular people, and a method of contributing to a larger group are all things that help us recalibrate ourselves.
So if you are overwhelmed with the task of “doing what you love” you should recognize that you are totally normal, and maybe you should just forget it. Just do something that caters to your strengths. Do anything.
And if you are so overwhelmed that you feel depression coming on, consider that a job might save you. Take one. Doing work and being valued in the community is important. For better or worse, we value people with money. Earn some. Doing work you love is not so important. We value love in relationships. Make some.
i think the point of saying “do what you love” is so that you are fulfilled as a human and not a money making robot unhappy with your life. If you goal in life is to make money than you will be happy to do what it takes to make that money. But if you love being outdoors and are stuck in a cubicle all day, the payoff isn’t great spiritually and emotionally. Money cant buy happiness.
Yes, yes, and yes! Thank you, Penelope! This is just what I’d been saying during my mid-twenties, until my then husband-to-be came along. And, God bless his heart, I love him to pieces, and I think he’s incredible, his advice has lately been “do what you love.” It’s driven me insane, but then again teetering between what I’m good at and what I used to love, and defining myself by career was always tough on my peace of mind. But I just KNOW there were reasons I stopped doing what I used to “love” and why go back now? Will search the rest of your essays, and the rest of the web. And myself. In the hopes of finding the answer. Or at least, some peace of mind. I’ve always known just what I wanted out of my personal life, and I have it. Now, if only I could achieve the same sense of togetherness for what it is I do for a living.
Can I just tell you thank you for writing this post. I’ve been driving myself nutso for trying to find the “perfect” job that I’ll be blissfully happy at. I started out my early twenties with changing my major 5 times, then after graduating I still didn’t know what I wanted to do. I didn’t hear “do what you love” until my mid to later 20’s and I thought, “OMG that’s what’s missing! I need to find and do what I love!” And that has since created an enormous pressure. Now, at 30 thank you for giving me another perspective and some insight into the phrase of “Doing what you love,” as life is teaching me at the same moment that relationship and love matter the most, but yes indeed it does feel nice to be useful to society and to have a little cash in your pocket :)
I think this so-called “advice” is only useful for shallow individuals like herself you writes crap like: “Often, the thing we should do for our career is something we would only do if we were getting a reward.”
WTF? we are humans not dogs.
this type of bullshit advice only applies to individuals who don’t have any passions or opinions about what they like/dislike in life, as long as they get their pay check…this is a zombie-like existence not a life. this article merely provides toxic excuses for ppl who simply settle for a superficial existence.
“Do not what you love; do what you are”…wtf does that even mean? …what you love makes up a significant part of who you are…that statement doesnt even make sense -facepalm-…
I’m going to have to disgaree with you on the premise here, Penelope.
I help folks define their career daily,
and I find basing your career on your values and beliefs gives you a powerful advanage and strong foundation for a great career.
Maybe it’s a matter of semantics, what you “love” to do means many things to many people.
For example, I loved Wall St for the money, but despise the whole business model. So I left it. And never looked back.
You can get a Free Preview of Define Your Career at my website, and see why I disagree with your premise.
At least you got to talk about your sex life, so the post wasn’t a total waste.
There needs to be definite clarification with the phrase “Do what you love”. To do what you love requires:
1) Identifying what you like doing
2) Identifying the level of skill you have in it (if minimal then work at increasing your skills)
3) Whether someone will pay you for what you are doing
The most crucial component is the third which a lot of the above posters ignore as they do not understand this concept. Thus doing what you love certainly has an emotional aspect to it but with a touch of reality.
“Doing what you are” is a recipe for disaster. Even though you may have the ability to do something doesn’t mean that you will be happy doing it. I have experienced this far too often and my personal life resulted in me finding ways to drown the misery of the working days. In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, self-actualisation is the highest listed and this is achieved through our work.
A lot of the people who post here simply agree with what is written at face value, they are the masses. They say they love doing something but are not following the criteria listed above. Most simply do not want to leave their secure job, they do not want to face failure, they do not want to have to suffer the pain of doing what you love without the prospect of any payoff.
Thus they go back to their little safety net and the humdrum of their meaningless lives.
Penelope, first, I’d like to commend you on your fine service in putting up this blog with thoughtful/thought-provoking perspectives on work-related issues. It allows me to see how supposedly educated and adult people who post in reply to your articles can lack decorum. As a holder of two degrees from the U.S.A. and a grad of an American school overseas, I am extremely shocked to see how crass some Americans (I think) can be. These are not just replies in your blog, but other American blogs, too. These inconsiderate people seem to lack, what many, if not most, Asians have: plain manners. I have taught at an international school and two universities in Thailand, and the administrators and educators do not tolerate rudeness among local and international students. Sure, the students and the teachers come to school and universities with their own diverse cultural and educational backgrounds, but we communicate to each other in a decorous manner. The school where I taught follows an American school curriculum, so I had opportunities to teach my pupils that what is freely available in on the Web is not necessarily acceptable English, the type that will get them to pass the SAT or ACT to attend universities in the States. Once, I had a group of exchange students from a private American university in L.A. in my college Ethics class here; they were cordial when we discuss moral philosophy topics. Those Los Angeles students made me proud of my educational background.
Public display of rude Americans affects my (or your) educational credibility in Asia. If Americans are perceived to be rude, the Asian administrators can choose from a surplus of Canadians, New Zealanders, Australians and Britons flocking to seek jobs here. Americans are not the only people with skills Asia want.
Great thought-provoking post. People have been commenting on it since 2007?!? And so appropriate now with low employment rates.
But, I have to disagree with your argument. I think everyone should shoot for what they love – defining love as what makes them tick.
If having a steady income that pays all the bills makes you feel better than the risk of starting your own business, then do what you love.
If you prefer the excitement of starting your own freelancing business to another boring day in your cubicle, then do what you love.
I wish more people would do what they loved. I’ve seen too many live angry lives, snap at their loved ones, submit to addictive substances and even live on the streets because they were too scared to do what they loved…to follow their hearts, as the saying goes.
Young adults wouldn’t feel so much pressure to build that perfect career if they simply followed what makes them tick. If they did that, they would find jobs that match their strengths & their likes, which probably includes things they love.
Penelope, you say that relationships make your life great, not jobs. But, jobs – how you produce and add to this world – also play an important role in life satisfaction. Look at people who work hard at a job they don’t like, and I’ll guess that they are not surrounded by wonderful relationships.
I get that you’re trying to get readers to not make such a big deal about their careers and to appreciated what they have job-wise and in other parts of their lives. And I agree with this, wholeheartedly! I try to do this everyday.
But if after taking time to appreciate, someone still feels the need to change how they create and add to this life through their work, then they should follow that calling and go where it leads them. That’s living!
Everyone should do what they love, because it doesn’t mean they’ll drop everything and start playing the banjo on the street corner for coins. What they love could be providing for their family, staying with the same employer till they retire, keeping a clean orderly house (without pay), not just following their favorite childhood dream.
I think society sends the subliminal message of working hard, getting married, a house, kids, a dog, etc., to be happy more so than what you are talking about here. That’s why people are depressed and disappointed. They didn’t find success and endless happiness and they followed the formula. It’s not because they tried doing what they love.
They mostly tried what they were told. The real trick is knowing what you love in such a loud media-style world. But at least if you intend to do what you love, you might start to hear your heart and figure out what’s best for you. In my opinion, that may just be the purpose of life: figuring out what you love and getting it!
Especially now, with the low employment rate, I think many are questioning their past career choices (as well as how they’ve been living their lives) and looking for new ways to produce/contribute and get paid. Also, with the explosion of the online medium, many doors have opened allowing people to do just that. More than ever, people are put in the position to start over. Why not start by doing what you love, whether that’s continuing what you used to do or something else?
Besides, I have to disagree because that’s exactly what my business is about: doing what you love.
BUT…If you love your job (like I do)you will be great at it…Hence: do what you love… if you can. Otherwise just keep doing and someday you will be open to love something.
I just stumbled across this blog and I loved this post. It’s so true. Do what you’re capable of doing. Take a career that you could bring some talent to. You can’t really ask for much else.
I’ve thought for awhile that the seemingly wise advice “do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” was somehow absurd. The first time I tried to list things I love doing, and then connect them to a legitimate career, I thought there was something wrong with me. What I loved look a bit like this:
1. Laying on the couch and eating chocolate
2. Sex
3. Frolicking ponies on a bright summer day
4. Reading obscure philosophical books
I’m now pursuing a career in medical radiation technology. Why? It offers a good chance of employment and I feel I could bring talent to that career. Some incentives are that it offers human contact in a context that is non-annoying (it’s not customer service), it offer decent wage, and, I find the biological-technical synthesis aspect interesting.
…But am I passionate about medical radiation technology?
HA!
Wait, how did I jump on the end of this comment train so late in the game? Um, 5 years late. Astounding piece! I’m in the middle of dropping my teaching career and looking to do what “I love”. After reading this, I’ll stop looking so hard and realize that I already do what I love-play around with interior design, drink wine with friends, travel, write a blog. Thanks for the perspective!
Exactly! Doing what you love is fine by itself, but the role your career plays in that is to simply support a lifestyle that enables you to continue doing what you love. Who cares what it is as long as it doesn’t drive you insane?
I don’t agree. I think most people’s problem is that they think they have to work 40 hours a day. THEN, it’s pure insanity to do anything you don’t love; I’d say. Would love helping you with the sex-part.
I love the candidness and rational behind your article. I agree that it’s important to just do something if you feel stagnant. If nothing else, it will get you out, meeting people, and hopefully closer to a job you actually like.
So, I can’t seem to agree with much stated here and this was posted by someone I think very highly of and tend to normally see eye-to-eye with.
I am someone who believes in doing what you love. I am also someone who believes life’s happiness isn’t always found in a relationship with some other person. It’s found within each individual’s life differently.
I am a 25 year old tradesman in northern Maryland. I work for an up and coming general contractor who is looking to retire in the next five years and hopes to hand the reigns of the company over to me upon doing so. We work for moderately wealthy homeowners and focus mostly on remodels and renovations. I have been in the trades since I was 16 years old in one capacity or another. This is what I love. I wake up early and go to bed sore. I get covered in dirt, dust, and grime almost everyday. I lift heavy objects constantly and can’t seem to stop smashing my knuckles into sharp things. But, when I think about what I DO, none of these things come to mind. What I do is make the world a better place to live in by using my skills to bring a measure of peace and comfort to my clients. I see a world full of destructive forces and I have chosen to be a person who constructs instead of destructs. This is what I love. It’s not about what you do, it’s how you view it. If you’re doing something that is in tune with your natural set of abilities (that can generate positive results)then happiness will ensue. Trying to depend on a relationship with someone else to feel fulfilled can also lead to a ruined life, loss of control, and no desire to accomplish goals. The onus lies with each persons priorities. You shouldn’t place too much importance on any one thing, the law of moderation applies. But, doing something because you love doing it shouldn’t preclude you from feeling like you should be compensated for your time, skills, and efforts.
Penelope!
I stumbled across your blog this evening when I googled ‘where to live’, contemplating serious change in my life. And your blog has brought to such an obvious realization I can hear mt inner self has been saying these things all along. All about doing what you love and figuring out what that is, the pressure!
I’ve really been overwhelmed by your insight. And in a life where I often (although working on it) find myself stuggling to ask for help, its comforting to have such a down to earth point of view to revert to.
Looking forward to reading your other posts.
Mackenzie
you seem to be taking the whole do what you love thing in a black and white generalized perspective.
the great thing about being open minded is being able to see what things actually mean in the context of what they were meant to be understood, knowing the difference between them, and not zeroing in on one perceived intention just because it seems that way to you.
doing what you love isn’t impossible, and it definitely isn’t the way you defined it. i actually find it ironic how you made a case for doing what one loves while portraying it as something else.
your sex analogy is off the point. people are not told to do what they love “the most”. the advise is not meant to be taken as literally as you put it. otherwise, people would be playing video games, shopping, surfing the net, watching tv, etc and be expecting to get paid for it.
you were right though when you said that “The world reveals to you all that you love by what you spend time on.” that’s how you determine the things you love. and if you try a certain career path and end up loving it, that becomes a good choice for you to start living the “do what you love” advise. it’s not stagnant, it changes as often as necessary. and it’s not meant to decide initial careers when people don’t know yet exactly what they want.
you were also right when you said career decisions are about what kind of life one wants to set up for him/herself. this is especially true when you’re still starting a career and are having many financial worries to face. true this isn’t where doing what one loves can be most effectively applied, but it doesn’t make it a bad piece of advise. it just makes either a bad advisor or a bad interpreter of the advise.
the gist of the advise is to not delve into something that isn’t in your best interest.
sure you might still get tons of money from it but if it isn’t something you love, you’ll still keep wanting to find that one thing you would really love doing, and be less happy than you deserve until you do.
it isn’t the advise used to start finding what it is you’ll need to do after school in order to survive and get a decent paycheck.
but you probably don’t know that there are people out there who are in way forced to do what they don’t want because of many factors, money being one of the strongest. they’re miserable inside thinking they were meant to do something more and more in touch with what they love, not something monotonous, uninteresting, and shallow. money isn’t the biggest factor for happiness and i’m sure you know that.
but of course you must ascertain first and for yourself if what you think you love is actually not detrimental to your future. besides, if it is, it surely wouldn’t be as lovable as you first thought it is. that isn’t the fault of the advise, but the fault of not knowing the implications and possible consequences of delving into what you thought was something you loved.
i hope next time you wouldn’t be so closed-minded and take things into broader perspectives.
I could cry, I love this post so much. It took me a long time to forgive myself for not having my entire life figured out by 22. The pressure of trying to “live my dream” was making me completely miserable. No matter what I did, it never felt like enough. Eventually, I “allowed” myself to get a normal office job and am now the happiest I have been in my adult life. I now have the money and time to pursue my interests as well as the space in my life to relax (instead of worrying all the damn time). I think it has been hard for some of my friends to accept, but this really is what is best for me at the moment. I don’t need to aspire to be a perfect, artsy manic-pixie-dream-girl. I can be happy with myself, and my life, right now.
When I first read this column, I was inclined to agree. My life experience has been that if you do what you love, there’s NO guarantee that the money will follow (though it’s certainly something I believed…or hoped…ever since I read Marsha Sinetar’s book of the same title).
But now I realize I do subscribe to the “Do What You Love” as good career advice. Not because the money WILL follow…well not if you’re holding out for big, big Wall Street, IPO type riches. In that case what Penelope says holds true.
Economist Tim Jackson makes a good counterargument (though not directly) in his opinion column, “Let’s be Less Productive.” He argues that our current focus on productivity and efficiency has driven out a way of thinking (and jobs) which contribute to the greater good of the Commonwealth as well as being a way to increase the number of jobs. Underlying his argument is that there are limits to growth (which I believe). My point is that a great number of the jobs that people would love to do are jobs that have to do with benefits to our society like caring and educating and increasing cultural richness (we need artists and ballerinas and chocolatiers). Of course, there are jobs that people would love to do that fall neither in the “Chase the Money” or “Do What You Love and Better Society” categories. I’d argue for our right to pursue those too…with a caveat: Understand the risks and what’s important to you. After all, all of life is a tradeoff.
I believe in doing what you like but there seems to be a missing element here. No job/career is going to be peaches and cream all of the time. There is good and bad in every career, you just have to find the balance. If your going into a job or career dreading it headlong then no you will hate it and burn out quickly no matter how much money you make. I know I was there in the corporate world. I switched to being a contract Massage Therapist and Group Fitness Instructor and most of the time love what I do. Noticed I said MOST of the time I love what I do. No career is perfect but personally I prefer being my own boss.
You’re a brilliant journalist and this really helped me.Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi, I disagree with this article. Doing what you love perhaps can be misleading for those who do not think more deeply about the topic. I love to dance. I done it my whole life and pursued a successful career as a dancer. I still continue to incorporate dance into my income (but only in ways that I truly enjoy). Someone commented that if we all did what we loved then who would do the undesirable jobs? I would suggest that everyone check out TheVenusProject.com which outlines a beautiful picture of what the world could be like. Sure, no one would prefer to do toilet plumbing as a choice career, but what about being part of a research team that designs technology that would take care of all of the undesirable jobs for us? These are highly evolved ideas that our current society is probably not ready for. If you think that it would be impossible to one day implement these ideas, then you are underestimating the infinite possibilities of our ever expanding universe. I’m sure that at one time no one ever thought that a light bulb or internet would ever be possible either. We all have gifts that the world needs, but too many people are too concerned with feeling safe and secure to explore the depths of their minds to contribute to a world that is expanding instead of staying idle.
Interesting post. I think you interpret the phrase “do what you love” differently than most people, and your interpretation is quite skewed: “If you tell yourself that your job has to be something you’d do even if you didn’t get paid, you’ll be looking for a long time.”
I would never consider NOT getting paid for what I do, after all that’s the point of a job, right?
I interpret “doing what I love for my career” to mean I’m motivated to get up each day (even some weekends) to solve problems in my job, because I am inherently interested in the work/subject. I’ve many other talents and/or hobbies that could have been my career but employment rates in those areas are much lower.
I don’t think it is luck, or too much to ask oneself to strive for, doing what you love.
I actually don’t agree with this post and I’ll tell you why. I don’t believe It’s really that different for adults than it is for children. in your blog on homeschooling you advice parents to encourage children to specialize and to let them follow what interests them or to zero-in and hit on what they love…here is your post…. “If they do not learn how to zero-in microscopically on what they love then they won’t be good enough at anything in order to stay employable. They will be doing the work someone else deems interesting. And this, I think, is what causes people to use Adderral in work life—they get so used to doing other peoples’ agendas as fast as they can, in school, that it seems normal to take drugs to do other peoples’ agendas as fast as they can at work.”
Why do you feel it is different for adults? Isn’t it true that we all preform much better when we are enjoying what we are doing? And doing something that someone else thinks is interesting isn’t any different for adults than it is for children. It sucks for us to and drains us of our energy that we could be using for what interests us as well (specializing in something you don’t like is a good idea?)
I also do not agree with your comment that you can’t make money having sex, a lot of people do and it is what they love.
In reality, adults are kids but in bigger bodies. I do agree with you and think it’s a good idea to do what you need to do in order to support yourself,even if that is something you don’t really like, but you should always be learning and honing your skills in the field you love so you can eventualy do that thing you can’t stop doing.
You mention that you love to write and now you are trying to make money at it. To me you are giving the same advice that my mother always gave me. “Do as I say not as I do.” Even as a child I knew that she was was trying to get me to make better choices than she did, but I also knew that I was going to live an authentic life despite her advice.
I do enjoy your blog, I just don’t agree with this post and think it contradicts some of your other advice.
:) Keep Blogging!
Tia Totally Agree with you ,
you can also get some tips at – icareeradvice.com
Bad career advice ?
i think it’s great career advice.
True , Do what you love and you will get interest in your work.
lol . Love your blog
This is the best advice. I never did believe “do what you love and the money will follow….” Not unless you have the money to start out with.
Good article to read. it is something that touches my life in aspect, i do what love. n i’m happy and satisfied with my act. I don’t think that ‘do not do what you love.’
I don’t get this post at all. I’m sorry, I don’t think this is one of your better articles. Which says nothing about you because you’re an amazing writer.
But “don’t do what you love”? Really?
I can’t help but feel this is a comfort post. It’s comforting to everyone who’s not doing what they love to agree with you. But you are the ultimate example of somebody who is doing what they love. And I’m not talking about the fact that you’re a writer – but you build connections with people. And THAT is who you are – or who I see you as. And you do it so well all the time! For the past 6 years you’ve built a loyal readership full of people who love what you say because of your honesty & generosity in thought.
I can’t seem to wrap my head around your advice here because you ARE doing what you love. And people love coming to you because it’s inherent in your writing that you love what you do & offer. Maybe you’re going to tell me that’s who you are & not what you love. And maybe you’re right. But then so am I.
Because isn’t what you love WHO YOU ARE? That’s how I feel.
Whatever, I love what you do. And I love you. :D
Hi Senait, what i got from the article is not to feel bad because you weren’t able to make what you love to do a career. but that just do what you love on your time and don’t necessarily expect it to become a career. hence the example about sex. Take care.
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I just hate it when I cannot do what I love because I’m too preoccupied with work or some activity that pertains to my survival. I feel like, then, I’m just surviving and not living. At the moment, I can do what I love and work at the same time and I’m pretty grateful for that.
I also hate it when what I love becomes work. It’s like sex. You enjoy it when it’s spontaneous, when you can do it on your own time and leisure. But when it’s preplanned, forced, and has a deadline, you dread sex — at least for me, albeit there were very few situations I felt sex was preplanned, forced, and had a deadline lolol.
I don’t know why I wrote all that. Those thoughts just came out of my head when I finished reading your blog.
My response to your blog is this: there are people in this world who only want to do what they love and, unfortunately, some of these things they want to do have not been commercialized or democratized too well in mainstream society — for example, dancing and writing (although both are about to change, I think, with the internet and all the social media outlets becoming so damn popular). I still believe, despite what you said, there is nothing stupid about these people pursuing what they love 100% IF that’s what they REALLY want to do. If they really want to, for example, pursue art as a living, even if that means they will live in the streets, then why not? Not the smartest move for their survival, but why not if that’s what they really want to do?
I hate quitters and whiners who makes excuses for themselves. never give up. only those who will risk too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
Thanks for your post. it really puts things in prespective for me because i have a great job that makes me feel fulfilled but is not my dream job and is not what I would have picked if i had the choice. I always felt like a failure when I heard ‘successful’ people say that to gain success you have to Love what you do. But you’re right. I don’t have to love what I do to get paid. I can just do what I love to do for myself and still feel fulfilled at my current job which I’m really good at but don’t necessarily love :) Thanks again you’ve helped me feel more at peace.
I do not at all agree with this article. I feel like some of the points made here, particularly “Often, the thing we should do for our career is something we would only do if we were getting a reward” are a defeatist approach to career building.
I understand your perspective, that sometimes work is better for someone than no work at all. However, how could you discourage TRYING to work doing what you love? What is the point of living life if you spend eight + hours a day doing something you normally wouldn’t be doing if you aren’t even attempting to turn it into something you would do in your spare time?
In modern Western society too much time is spent at work for someone to simply aspire to doing whatever can generate income (even if they don’t enjoy it). I agree that people generate value and enjoyment from relationships but I do not agree that you cannot find these feelings from a fulfilling career.
In general, while I see your point I would never advise someone to stop working towards doing what they love. The people who work towards what they love will change the world in ways that only true passion can. That’s not to say that other meaningful employment does not hold value, it does. But if you live by the philosophy that an individual’s passion can generate a reaction stronger than an individual’s passivity or compliance, then following your passion in your career path is sure to make a very great difference on society, whether or not you’re successful in the long term.
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break of day, because i like to gain knowledge of more
and more.
It’s hard to come by knowledgeable people for this subject, however, you sound like you know what you’re talking about!
Thanks
I absolutely loved this!!!! I’m not ashamed to say it: it is an eyeopener for sure. I “love” a lot of things, but the things I love one does not necessarily get paid. However, numbers and measurement are a major part of my life…so I think the career I am pursuing does suit me – I think this even more so after reading. Thanks a million!!!
Thanks! Really needed this. You just saved me from a lot of introspection and depression and bad decisions to finally arrive at this conclusion.
I loved this. Thanks!
Excellent post! I have been dealing with this very issue and have really begun leaning in this direction. Thank you so much for affirming what has become my decision path/consequence mantra.
Love the blog also love sex much more than my job…. The job I do aint so bad I excell in it and am deeply regarded by my fellow workers. The trouble is though the management are a joke and so out of touch with the workers, its an all Australian owned and run company but in my ten years working there I have witnessed management act very unaustralian in regards to the welfare of workers with families etc.. I PERSONALLY am forced to work well below my potential and also have major depression issues.:'(… No matter I continue to strive to better myself and my career prospects, shit if I wasnt a family I could have easily taken the career path of a jigilo/man whore it has been an option previously; one thing I love is to satisfy all of a ladies desires…… But one must be faithful.. In recent times there have been some marriage issues and I contemplated a line from a song “my heart is yours but my dick is public property” perhaps harsh as I love this women but hey I have a big heart and alot of love to go round. Gooluck with that dryspell, everybody needs good lovin…
yours faithfully,
Drew 4 U Xxx
I’ll agree to disagree. I know people with careers who love what they do and earn a living from it. For example, I know freelance writers who earn a decent living from writing and teaching others how to become freelance writers. In fact, you may have purchased some of their products and services.
I do agree that in order to find out what you love to do or what you’re good at, you may have to try 10 or even 20 different jobs to find out. Go for it!
I too have taken the Myers-Briggs personality tests and other career/personality tests. What happens when your life is turned upside down three years from now? Will you answer the questions the same? Or, will you answer them based on what you’re feeling and thinking at a particular moment? What if you think you want to pursue one career but then change your mind? You may not answer the questions the same way you would have if you were still interested in pursuing a certain career path. It’s very interesting. Humans are complex creatures. They’re not one-dimensional. Tests can only measure so much.
Deep down, people know their strengths and weaknesses; most of the time they’re too afraid or ashamed to acknowledge their strengths because of what others will think of them. That’s too bad.
You can pursue your dreams and passions while working at your current job. And… Be grateful for the job you have because I guarantee you that someone, somewhere, would change places with you in a heartbeat.
P.S.
Someone better tell Oprah, Donald Trump, the late Steve Jobs, and others they’re not doing what they love to do or did what they loved to do.
I have a different take on the whole do what you love theory. I love to cook, as well as play rugby but at my age now the second is somewhat out of the question, if I get hurt I can’t do the first which is my occupation. I love to cook, bake you name it and where I am it doesn’t happen enough but I am looking at opportunities that will let me do it more for the company I work for. Only recently have I actually had people I work with at my present employer actually be friendly outside of work. In the past I’d socialize with plenty of people after work but now it’s just tougher because of the drama that comes with my job unfortunately. I try on a daily basis to extend that proverbial olive branch to others and I am a light hearted,outgoing kind of person. So as I tend to see things any more, let them come to you after you’ve gone to them because you can’t force a relationship where they won’t let one happen.
I thought, doing what I love can be a good thing being a career. However, at some point, I always find that there are missing pieces in my life and I can’t really find them for doing only what I love. You are a genius! Thanks for letting me understand such things.
Dont listen to this garbage no offense to the obvioulsy problematic author of the article but who wouldnt want to get paid for what they love… sorry I had a long detailed reply but it was deleted and unfortunately i dont LOVE typing so im not going to do it even if I was getting paid… DO WHAT YOU LOVE BE YOURSELF… dont let any book tell you different or this insane author who probably had nothing else to write about and wrote a different outlook just to differ from the normal view yet she tells you to be normal lol … ill tell you one thing if I was in need of a life saving transplant and the doctor looks as if he was being tortured everyday id find a new doctor but on the other hand if you could tell he loved his job I would be more confident that im in good hands…. now dont get me wrong im not saying that you will be garunteed your dream as a famous pop singer such as Justin Beiber but if music is your love chase it because there is no doubt in my mind you can land a job in the music industry somewhere along the line…. and then you can keep to your morning shower concerts waking up all your roommates lol FIND YOURSELF and please DO WHAT YOU LOVE and what makes you happy dont be miserable to this article thats catering to people with dead end minimum wage jobs try and feel some significance in their job by saying you might not love it but someone has to do it… how this country got the way it is now…. (first article was better but rather longer sorry)
p.s. sometimes a hobby to pass time is not what you love FIND WHAT YOU LOVE and makes you happy not just what you like to do for fun… for example if you love to fix computers or work with them and fix them. first sit down and analyze the situation do you really love to work on them or do you just do it to pass the time all more than often what you love and what you love to do to pass time are misconfigured… thanks everyone for your time
I completely disagree with this post, and I feel it’s bad advice. What do you mean someone shouldn’t get paid for something they love to do??? That doesn’t make any sense. People shouldn’t just take ANY job, unless they’re in a desperate situation where they have no other choice, because if someone hates their job, they will be miserable! I know many people who hate their jobs and they curse the day they have to go to work. I’ve also seen people who have given up a high paying job they hate for a lower paying job doing something they LOVE. Being happy is what’s important, and if you could get paid for doing something you love, what more can you ask for??? That’s a blessing! I for one have left a higher paying job to do something I love, and no amount of money would bring me back to that job I hated. Everyone has some kind of talent, something they’re good at, something they LOVE, so why not get paid for it??? When you’re passionate about something you put your heart and soul into it, and you’re able to go through the challenges to be successful, instead of giving up, because you LOVE what you do! So I do advise people to go after what they love and make a career out of it. Everyone who has done it has never regretted it, and most importantly they are HAPPY, and that’s what’s important.
now, i am working job that i do not like, but i can make money to take care my family. in our world, i think have a lot of person same me. And we are trying….
Penelope,
The real issue here is looking for a business or career you love to work on or something you are passionate about building. I can see getting passionate about doing or building many things. Not all are centered on my core passions or loves. For example, I love music, but this doesn’t mean I can only create a business or career that revolves around music. Conversely, when I worked as a journalist, I loved writing about politics, but this doesn’t really mean politics is my central passion or that I would enjoy other jobs working in and around politics. On the other hand, building a career or business doing something you absolutely hate can be difficult, because bringing the necessary time and energy to the process everyday to guarantee success just may not be possible. Just my two cents. Thanks again to Heather for sharing this post with the BizSugar community.
I am a little late to the party, however I wanted to leave a comment on this brilliant piece of advice. Come to think of it, what you have written is so true. We always advise others to do what they love doing as a career, and they will surely succeed, but it can backfire big time. Little do we realize that as soon as we start earning money from something that we love doing, it becomes work, a chore and then we start hating it!
One of the most inspiring articles I’ve read. Your site truly has connected with a lot of what I’m searching for (I’m a college undergrad). You have a fresh voice, and a fresh perspective that is really valuable.