August 10, 2007

Do you love what you do? Should you love what you do?

There's a good conversation going on over on the Planning, Statups, Stories blog. Tim Berry responds to the question "What's more important--passion or ability?" when it comes to selecting a career. Check out the comments section. A copy of my comment appears below.

It's hard to make a living doing what you love. Why? Because introducing the green stuff into the relationship often leads to relationship problems.

Love blinds, often making it difficult to mix business with pleasure. I think this is why most people keep what they really love far, far, away from the JOB. NOTE: A lot of people claim to be doing what they love but it isn't often the case. Everybody wants it so it's natural for people to claim they have it - it's in our nature.

Most of the people (there are exceptions) I know that have turned loves/hobbies into businesses regret it. Why? They turned that special thing they really loved into a JOB - it isn't fun anymore, it's work. It's the thing that puts food on the table. That, usually, comes with stress and external pressure. Other people start messing around with the thing you loved.

My advice to the entrepreneur.com reader - keep doing what you're good at, become the best at it, and find a way to leverage that success so you can spend more time doing what you really love. That way, you keep the green stuff out of the relationship.

-- Cale

Fortunately, and I'm not just saying this because Tim Berry is the President and Founder of the company I work for, I love what I do for a living. Or, maybe, I'm just claiming to love what I do for a living to make all of you jealous. You'll never know. I do however think the word "love" is getting tossed around here a bit too freely. Love, for me at least, is a word reserved for my wife, my kids, and my family. It's a powerful word that carries a lot of meaning. I don't really believe you can "Love" a car, your house, a hobby, or your job - really "Love" it. Or, maybe you can.

Posted by Cale on Aug 10, 2007

Categories: business.commentary
Technorati Tags: timberry love passion work career job passion lovework

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.palmit.com/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/352

Post a comment

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)

Name:

Email Address:

URL:

Remember personal info?

Comments: