It’s 9PM on a Monday night. I am sitting alone at home, post-dinner, and writing this blog for you. There is this saying of “love what you do, and do what you love” in the community, and while a lot of naysayers might dismiss that, saying things like, not for me, that’s rare, that’s not possible for most people… etc., I venture to argue that while it is true that it is not common, it is not impossible. Loving the work is not just being fine with it, but rather it should be a genuine passion and love for it, constantly thinking how you can improve the experience and do the thing better. I feel like this is the only way that we can make a true impact on the world. One does not achieve any real impact by doing the “normal work” and living a “normal life”. You must have a genuine passion for what you do, with or without people. <– that is, if you remove the colleagues that you work with, do you still love what you do? Are you still as eager to go to work every day? What about removing the current salary, and make it a sum that is just enough for you live by month by month? Do you still love what you do?
A genuine passion should provide you with that love for what you do, even if all the external factors are removed.
Some might think, why bother? Yes, I might not truly “love my job” on its own, but I am good with all the other factors thrown in with my job, I love the pay, I love the office, I love the people I work with…… I am good now, why should I have this “genuine passion” for my work? This is a very genuine issue. I would say yes, you don’t have to, but I will also say maybe, one day towards the end of your life, you might regret. And maybe if you think deeper, looking back at the end, what kind of contributions you made to the world… you might thought maybe you should’ve done something else. While I am not certain, I tend to think there is something that each of us want to do, love to do on this planet, everyone’s different, and if you try to find it, you might actually be able to make a career out of it. And you will be truly fulfilled.