Love What You Do

I was once watching a program in which they did an interview with combat aviators. These people were spending day in and day out flying the most modern aircraft at supersonic speeds, trying new gut-wrenching maneuvers and honing their flying skills. One of the aviators was asked how he felt about his job and he said that he couldn’t believe that he was actually paid to do all that.

The take away from that was that when you actually enjoy what you do, the paycheck becomes a secondary thing. You wake up each day looking forward to work because you actually enjoy doing what you do. The commute to work, the long hours, the hurried lunches, the meetings, the conferences, the customer visits don’t bother you. You don’t even notice those since they are a means to accomplish what you love.

You will notice that I am using ‘actually enjoy’ rather than ‘enjoy’ as I want to drive home the fact that you need to genuinely be interested in what you are doing. Most people fake the enjoyment since it is not the work they enjoy, but the paycheck. In order to enjoy what you do, you need to take pride in your work and take pride in the outcomes from your work. The work you do should have a positive impact for yourself, for your team, for your community and for the environment.

Working solely for the paycheck means that while people go through the motions of work, they are not dedicated to the work. Their priorities are elsewhere and hence their faculties are not completely engaged. This results in work that is less enthusiastic and less likely to have a lasting impact.

They will meet the prospect and make the sale. They will not however make the relationship and make a lasting customer. The sales person who enjoys what they do will not only love meeting the prospect, they will help convert them into a lifelong customer.

However, note that the person who enjoys selling does so as they understand that the company they work for has objectives and values that are similar to their own. It is the responsibility of the company as well to nurture their relationship with the employee to align the employee objectives with the company objectives. If the company objectives fall out of alignment with the personal objectives of the employee, the employee will stop enjoying the work they do.

To truly love what you do you need to find out what drives you and find a place where the management and culture are in line with your personal drivers. In this way you will shine as an employee and contribute to the company as well as personal objectives.

Reflect on what your personal objectives are and whether your objectives are in line with what you do. Strive to be better at doing what you love and you will be happier and more content.