We often hear this saying: Do Work You Love
You’ve heard it…I’ve heard it…we’ve all heard it.
But we don’t really take it to heart….it’s more of a cliché.
People always harp on the importance of “doing work you love”, yet most of us never actually do anything about it to improve our situation.
Remember when you were asked that question back in grade school:
What do you want to be when you grow up?
I remember this activity like it was yesterday.
Maybe you dreamt of becoming a veterinarian, pilot, pro athlete, or an artist…….
If you had a great teacher that encouraged your vision, props to them!
If not, that’s unfortunate. No one other than yourself has the right to decide what it is you do for a living
Through our youth, most of these dreams we hold get CRUSHED. The individuality & creativity we possess gets knocked out of us (LITERALLY). Really want to dive deep into this topic sometime, read my manifesto on education.
Don’t believe me?
This isn’t an opinion, it’s fact.
Schools continue dropping arts/music programs while putting math & science as priority number 1. The latter are essential…….but arts, music, and creative fields are equally as important.
A 2002 report by the Arts Education partnership revealed that school children exposed to drama, music, and dance are often more proficient in reading, writing, and math. This is just one brief example (there are endless others).
We can’t lose sight of this.
Let’s look at a quick example:
Jenn brings home a new guy she’s dating to meet her parents for the 1st time.
If she tells her parents that Rob is either a doctor or an artist, which field of work do you think they would initially value more?
I put my money on the doctor (not because he’s any better than the artist, simply because this is how society has led us to believe on first instinct).
We generally place careers such as doctors, lawyers, and businessmen/women above the rest on a pedestal.
Why?
Mainstream America has unknowingly led us to believe these are the most prestigious jobs, and that we should all strive for them as well.
The result of this mentality steers many individuals away from a career path they would truly enjoy (arts, music, language, etc).
They fear the opinion of others too much & resort to picking safe majors.
We see this all the time:
- Kids picking majors on a whim……”idk, I’ll major in business, communications”
- Parents telling kids to take certain majors because it will land a good job……”honey, this will set you up well for your future”
The question I want to ask though is this………will it land you with a happy (and lucrative) life?
In order to find the perfect combo of economic stability & work you love, you need to pause and reflect.
Ask yourself the following 3 questions:
- What is my ideal job/career? (in detail)
- What can I do in my power to make strides toward making that a reality every day?
- Why will my life be better once I have that ideal job/career?
Once you can clearly answer these questions, you’ve already got the ball rolling.
When you look back on your life years from now…..
“You won’t regret the things you DID do, you’ll only regret the things you DIDN’T do.”
Start working on those DIDN’T’s now and start to DO WORK YOU LOVE.
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