The other night, while I was working on my e-book (details coming soon), I asked myself why I was doing this. Why go through so much pain for one e-book when I can spend my vacation basking in the sun or getting paid the traditional way?
Let’s sit on this idea for a second. It’s summer. There are jobs that I could’ve easily applied for and gotten hired to do. I know plenty of people who could recommend me for very good positions.
So, why am I busting my butt trying to get this e-book done instead of selling out and getting employed like the greater portion of college kids my age do? Why am I doing such hard work that’s so far been yielding me no payment?
I’m not going to get any sort of medal. Maybe a few thousand people will get to see the result of my hard labor. Even fewer will decide to purchase it.
It’s funny that when I’m in the thick of difficult work that I ask myself this. And then the answer came to me, as if I was struck by neural lightning:
Because I enjoyed doing it.
But in an instant, I had another conundrum. I already knew that I enjoyed it. But why was it so difficult? I thought doing what you love was supposed to be easy?
Then another answer came to me in my somewhat enlightened state:
For anything to be a success, hard work is necessary. Hard work is what separates the winners from the losers; the expendable from the indispensable.
A wake-up call already woken up to
Somewhere along the line, we’ve seem to have forgotten the adjective that goes in front of the word “work”.
All the time I hear the gurus say we should be doing “work that matters”. Instead we should be telling ourselves to do “hard work” that matters. I don’t know about you, but I get the notion that most of us think doing what we love is going to be easy.
That the four-hour work week is acquired by working for four hours a week from the get-go.
That doing what you love is all fun in the sun while you get to work from anywhere.
Unfortunately, when you actually test that theory, it’s proven that only the opposite is true.
Whether you’re pushing pencils, or striving to increase awareness about the impact humanity is having on the world. Whether you’re a famous actor on the stages of Broadway, or sitting at the desk in another one of those gray cubicles. Whether you’re doing what you love or doing what you hate.
It all takes hard work.
Hard work and passion go hand in hand
“When you live for a strong purpose, then hard work isn’t an option. It’s a necessity.” – Steve Pavlina
When you really care about something (maybe you want to start a movement and bring change) you can’t mull around expecting someone else to take the first step. Or rather, you won’t let yourself do that.
You already know, as if instinctually, that intention backed up by action makes things happen. As Steve says, hard work is a necessary element in order for your goals to be realized.
There are no shortcuts
“There is no substitute for hard work.” – Thomas Edison
There are no lottery tickets in life that will dramatically increase your odds of success. Hard work has existed all these years for a reason. It’s the only tried and true way to successfully doing what you love.
The only shortcut to hard work is less work, which in the end leads to a higher chance of you not succeeding.
Greatness is not obtained through a slack work ethic
“Unless you are willing to drench yourself in your work beyond the capacity of the average man, you are just not cut out for positions at the top.” – J.C. Penney
Alright, we know hard work matters and that it is necessary, but how much of it are we supposed to do? The answer is however much it takes to get where we want to be.
Anybody can do hard work for a few hours. Take a look at how many people work part-time. But less can remain dedicated for a few months. Even less so can stay hard workers for years.
This is why there are so few at the top. Not because they took shortcuts or free-rode on the backs of the more dedicated. But because they understood that hard work is what rules all.
The truth behind doing what you love
The truth is that doing what you love requires you to work much longer and harder than your employed counterparts for no pay whatsoever (at least in the beginning). The paycheck you seek is not coming at the end of every bi-weekly period.
But what matters much more than the time invested, the money lost, and the sweat put in is that you are doing what makes you happy and what others can enjoy.
Is this not what life is about? The pursuit of happiness? I can hear the naysayers already, telling me that this pursuit is imaginary and the “American Dream” was lost long ago.
I beg to differ.
photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography
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15 comments to “The Truth Behind Doing Work You Love”
While I’m having hard time right now constructing my first ever wordpress theme for public consumption, I stumbled upon this post and it made me feel relieved. I am not alone having this same kind of difficulty! I was a bit down earlier because no matter how I try to make things easier, it’s turning out opposite. Starting to work with the things you love is mind-draining. But as I’ve seen from the past, after the long hours of work, pouring all your energies and effort, the happiness you get from seeing the end result makes every thing worth it.
You’re doing great. Keep it up!
Great post! You hit the nail on the head when you wrote that “hard work and passion go hand in hand.” Anyone can work hard, but being passionate about what you do helps you show up and do your best day after day.
Keep up the great writing…
Great post. Great message.
John,
This was excellent – and full of truths! You’re so right to point out that all we read is that we should be doing fulfilling work and enjoying it – no one mentions that it takes hours and hours of dedication!
There is no magical solution to becoming a success. A lot of the so called gurus out there don’t mention that to get to the top you have to be willing to climb 24/7 even when you’re bone tired.
Great article – thank you!
Angela Artemis´s last blog ..Who Is The Best Expert on YOU
Thank you very much, Angela. This is where practice proves/disproves assumptions. It is true that fulfilling work is enjoyable, but it still requires you to sweat — maybe even more so because you care about what you’re doing so much.
Hard work is tried and true — don’t mess with the formula.
Loving the comments on this one guys. Thank you
Atta boy, John!
Nothing I’ve ever done that mattered was easy.
Nothing.
Keep your nose down pencil to paper (or phlanges to keys), keep working, and keep your eyes on the prize.
Woot!
Lori´s last blog ..BOOM
This post was really right on time for me. I’m also working on an ebook and it’s been an exhausting process for me. I enjoy it, but it is a lot of work on top of my already full days on a 9 – 5. Thanks for helping me to rethink what I’m doing and to refocus on what is to come. Awesome!
Nea | Self Improvement Saga´s last blog ..Why People Lie So Damn Much
Aritsts live with this constantly. It’s frustrating when you can’t get started on the one thing you absolutely love to do most in the whole wide world. The blank canvas syndrome is a well known phenomenon among creatives. It’s a sad truth that the stuff we love doesn’t necessarily come easy. Another good topic well written John. Go you on the ebook. Keep that midnight oil burning ok?
Thanks! Will do, Jean
I think If you do what you love. There is no such thing as work. It just becomes what you do.
You get out what you put in. This should be taught in every high school and university. Yes, hard work is necessary. If you do not put in “hard work” you will not get favorable results. This is evident in the great population that are underachievers. Why are they underachieving? Because they have no work effort, therefore, they do not work hard.
Thanks for sharing this “reality checking” post.
S. Ali Myers – Soulful Body & Mind´s last blog ..Alkaline Foods List- How to Eat to Help Cure Most Diseases
I discovered in my early twenties that even after I acquired what I “thought” was my dream job, I was miserable a few years later. I resigned to life full of dissatisfaction. From years of numbness and desperation, I was forced to search for something else; satisfaction with myself as a person and learning to accept the consequences of being myself. That allowed me to really search for what made me happy and didn’t change every few months as I searched for external sources (jobs, hobbies) for temporary purpose. Like many others it really comes down to creating something that makes the world a better place. It really is that simple; helping others achieve their goals mostly through self-love and acceptance.
Hard work is essential in becoming successful (whatever the unit of measure is for success). It was hard work learning to have a healthy relationship with myself. Hard work to discover self-love and accepting it from others. The result has been a more altruistic approach to life and what my passions are. Less about being successful financially and more about being of service to others.
Jared´s last blog ..Spirituality for Non-Spiritual People- 6 Ways to Practice Spirituality
You know, the naysayers are doing so simply because they have the time and AREN’T willing to work hard to make things happen for them.
That’s exactly why so many people don’t succeed and so many do. Naysayers will fail and winners will, well, win!
Eric´s last blog ..Blogging Better- The Two Simple Ways To Do So