I recently heard it said that “what you love is what you generate an appetite for.” Once you develop an appetite for something you will want to practice it. And once you practice something because you love it, you will begin to master it.
That correlation made me stop and think. As I've continued to do so, I have started to see evidence that supports this sequence and am convinced this trajectory is a recipe for a happy life.
At one end of the continuum is the innocent nature of enjoying an activity (a.k.a loving what you are doing). At the other end is mastering that activity. When you love what you are doing and you are really good at it, you have struck gold: happiness!
So why is it that we see so many people who do not love work?
Somewhere in between loving an activity and mastering it as your form of work lies a deterrent. That deterrent is the confusion about what makes us truly happy.
The world will tell us that we need to be financially stable in order to be happy. So most people chase careers that will make them financially stable. They don’t love it, they don’t practice it beyond the workday, and they never master it. They end up stuck in the rat race, counting the hours until they can go do what they love with the people they love. It’s a vicious cycle.
It’s a shame that we don’t infiltrate the truth about how to be happy and how to make money. The truth is: figure out what activity you love to do. Develop an appetite to do it with excellence. Be diligent to practice it and master it. Happiness follows those who maximize time doing what they love to do. Those who master their field make plenty of money because they’re doing what they love.
Unfortunately, confusion follows those who seek out, practice, and try to master activities that they don’t love to do. This is much of the work world. Early in life, we tend to push careers on people without analyzing if they love to do the activities that career entails.
We hear that it's idealistic that work could be a source of happiness in life. In fact, it IS realistic, but society has hijacked the simplicity of loving one's work!
If you want to love work, day in and day out, and make your work a major source of your happiness, start by asking this key question.
Have you had seasons of your career that you absolutely loved?
Look at those seasons and analyze what you were doing. What you were doing is probably what you love to do. Give yourself the freedom to want more of it, practice it and master it. Make a plan on how to do so and start to let your career goals shift toward that activity that you love. Doing so will ensure work can be a source of your happiness in life!
And if you struggle to believe that work can be a major source of your happiness, buy The Purpose Promise book and workbook. They will help you analyze the key elements of your past that are the key to finding work you love and making plenty of money while doing it.
The Purpose Promise process provided much-needed clarity in terms of what I wanted from my life. First and foremost, about how my job and career would help me or allow me to reach that goal.