As Britany would say, ?You better work, bitch.?
I?m not saying don?t do what you love. I?m saying put in the damn effort, folks!
?A bright blue neon on a wall reads ?Work harder?? by Jordan Whitfield on Unsplash
Now let me begin by saying that as I write this piece I am speaking as much to myself as I am to you. We all have that one thing that we love, be it writing, painting or crafting homemade goods. There are an unlimited number of passions to dedicate our lives to ?grinding? and ?hustling? for in search of success.
In recent times there seems to be an even greater surge of the workforce turning to pursue passion projects in the hopes of finding financial freedom within it. I?m not shaming a passion project or a dream, in fact I encourage it, but this all goes back to the saying that we have all heard an obnoxious number of times, ?If you love what you do you?ll never work a day in your life.? This is a quote from singer and producer, Marc Anthony, and it is blatantly false.
While the meaning Anthony is trying to get across is no doubt seemingly obvious, I think that some of us tend to take it a bit too intentionally.
Do what you love and it will never feel like you are working. Right? That?s the dream isn?t it?
Imagine a world in which you love what you do but you don?t actually ever work. You?re just kind of there. Being. Never moving towards something, never embracing challenges and hurdles. A world of no work and all play. I?m sure there is a movie or novel centered around this concept and how it ends up being the downfall of the community, however, I?m not going to fall into the black hole that is Google to dig it up.
I?d like to wake you up with some bitter reality. Sometimes the things you love to do are going to require being up until all hours of the night, it is going to mean that you are searching for a nonexistent light at the end of the tunnel, and it?s going to mean that you sometimes want to give up because it all seems a bit too hard.
?An iMac with ?Do More? displayed on its screen on a wooden desk? by Carl Heyerdahl on Unsplash
People, especially those who are self-employed creatives, sometimes mix up enjoying what you do with not having to put in the hard work.
When we choose to make the leap between what we love being a hobby and what we love becoming what puts food on the table we cross the line between passion and necessity. We stop doing this thing we have commited our lives to doing just for the fun of it. Now we have actual deadlines. We have the nitty gritty shitty parts that we don?t necessarily want to do, but now become a requirement because there are clients or other folks depending upon you to deliver.
Tasks become less enjoyable when we feel that we are forced to complete them to gain money. It is no longer a responsibility we can take time off from when needed nor walk away from entirely. Lori Deschene, founder of Tiny Buddha talks about this psychological phenomenon and the myth surrounding Marc Anthony?s famous quote in her article ?4 Myths about Doing What You Love for Work? which I highly recommend reading. https://tinybuddha.com/blog/4-myths-about-doing-what-you-love-for-work/
You can do what you love, but you?re still going to have to work. Will it be more pleasant than being stuffed into a cubicle for the next forty years of your life? I should certainly hope so. However, that doesn?t mean it will be easy.
This is why Business News Daily states in their article about doing what you love to, ?Make time to make it happen.? https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/3302-10-ways-to-do-what-you-love-for-a-living.html
It?s also why chef and author, Aliyah LeeKong lists number five as ?Prepare to be uncomfortable, both physically and mentally,? in her article published by Entrepreneur on doing what you love for a living. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/229564
You can?t clam up when you have four self-imposed deadlines staring you in the face. You made them, you can move them back to give yourself more time. But should you? No!
All I?m trying to say is, put in a little more effort and commit yourself to what has been lovingly called ?the hustle? and ?the grind?. But don?t simply say you?re going to do it.
Go do it, dammit!
Photo by Johnson Wang on Unsplash
