Somebody once said that if you do what you love you will never work a day in your life.
Over the past few weeks I have met with a surprising number of people who have told me how much they dislike their jobs and how they are desperately seeking employment elsewhere.
I would like today to introduce a new habit – one that we will be discussing over the next three weeks.
This new habit is called The Habit of Loving What You Do and is one that, through our God given Power of Choice grants each of us the right to accept or like or love or tolerate or dislike or hate everything we do.
There is an enormous difference between doing what we love and loving what we do.
We are not all so blessed that we spend each waking moment doing the very things that we love each and every day.
But even if we aren’t doing what we love we can certainly love what we do.
Some of those folks I mentioned earlier who told me that they “hate” their jobs fail to realize the degree of toxicity they are bringing into their own lives and, no doubt, the lives of those they interact with.
Recent research on the topic of motivation strongly suggests that the more meaningful the job at hand the higher the level of commitment there is to it and the greater the sense of motivation within those doing that work.
The challenge I see in concluding that motivation comes from doing meaningful work suggests strongly that it is the work itself that is meaningful and that motivation is thereby granted to those doing said work.
I don’t see it that way. Work is work. It is neither meaningful nor mindless. Those descriptors are nothing more than the labels placed upon the work by those doing it.
Last week I wrote about a cleaning lady at one of our local hospitals who I was fortunate enough to chat with briefly during a recent visit.
This lady’s job is to be part of the team of cleaners who work extremely hard at keeping every part of that hospital in a sanitary and clean state. Not an easy task.
She told me how much she loved what she did. She explained to me felt that that her job is the single most important job in the entire facility and that she saves lives every day by her efforts at keeping the hospital clean and thus preventing the potential for the spreading of disease.
This lady truly understood The Habit of Loving What You Do.
Sometimes we find ourselves in situations where circumstances require us to do things we don’t love to do. But there are no circumstances that can prevent us from loving everything that we do.
The Habit of Loving What You Do is a habit that once adopted, enables us to find the absolute positive in everything we do and find enjoyment and pleasure and fulfillment and meaningfulness in what we are doing while at the same time the search continues to find what we love.
The cleaning lady taught me a lesson I will cherish for the rest of my life. Since meeting her I have passed on her story each time I have had occasion to talk with somebody who has complained about the job they’re in.
I am not for a moment suggesting that anybody remain in a job they do not wish to remain in. I’m simply stating that until such time as they can leave that job and move on to something else they will benefit mightily from loving what they are doing and, in so doing, save themselves from vast amounts of stress and discomfort.
The Habit of Loving What You Do will allow all those who adopt it to spend far more of their time loving and enjoying their lives which – and I’m sure you will agree – beats the heck out of being miserable.
Let’s make a habit of meeting like this.
My book Life Sinks or Soars – the Choice is Yours now has its very own website. Please visit us at www.lifesinksorsoars.com and let me know what you think.
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