Have you ever heard the line:
“Love what you do and you’ll never work a day in your life.”
Sorry, but it’s wrong. Dead wrong.
Do you love your partner? Aren’t there some days that the relationship feels like more work?
Do you love exercise or some athletic activity? Aren’t there days that it feels like more work?
I had a speaking engagement at Oshkosh Corporation last week. It felt SO good to be speaking in front of a live audience again (about 30 were in-person, with 100+ joining virtually). And I posted the following caption on Instagram afterwards:
Anytime I see a photo like this of me speaking, I think two things:
1 - Is that REALLY what you look like when you speak, Scott? You kinda look like an idiot 🙂
2 - It seems like you're truly loving and enjoying what you do.
The second point is absolutely true (first point is semi-debatable), but trust me, there are still days where it feels like "work." And please stay with me here because I find myself having more of these conversations with people who buy into some of the cliche phrases of mainstream personal development...
"Love what you do and you'll never work a day in your life."
If I subscribe to that philosophy, a couple of if/then's are probably true:
If I'm doing something that feels like work, then I must not love what I do.
If I can find what I love, then I'll never have to work again.
Either way, you're setting yourself up for failure. Because at some point, the work will come and you'll either wonder what is wrong with you or you'll start chasing something else that you may "love."
Perhaps I'm blowing this line waaay out of proportion but it's important to understand how phrases like this affect our psychology and our interpretation of the way things are supposed to be.
That's where I come back to the caption on the Instagram post. Life is short and my hope is that you find a profession, partner and hobby that you love. The love doesn't make it easy; the love makes it worth it. And when you still "work" many days of your life...those days are much more fulfilling.
Keep Outperforming,
