How to Kick Ass
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As you can tell by my asking for a raise and afraid of your boss articles, I’ve been in the improve-your-life/career mood lately. It’s holiday time and everyone’s workload is probably leveling off today before they head into the long weekend. I figured that this is the best time for people to think about whether you are seriously doing what you love or not.
I can recall throughout my schooling, people would always remind us all to “do what you love” and “you have one life to live” and “no regrets” and that sort of mumbo jumbo. Motivational speeches are all well and good, but how come most people I come across always have something bad to say about what they do for a living? (Think: I wish I didn’t have to go to work today! I hate my boss! My work is boring!) Clearly, people aren’t responding to this motivational rhetoric as much as they really should be. Let’s talk about why you should do what you love with an example:
- Paul really loves Indian food and decides to start up a new Indian restaurant.
- Mike’s got an awesome Web 2.0 social-networking-taken-the-next-level idea.
Who’s more likely to be successful?
If you picked Paul, you’re damn right. Paul’s going to build a small restaurant and slowly build success. He’s going to continue to build on that success by setting up a franchise system or opening more stores.
On the other hand, Mike’s going to work his butt off until he gets the next latest and greatest idea in his head. He’s going to jump around from opportunity to opportunity and he’s never really going to be able to build on his past successes.
According to Wharton and Stanford professors, “doing what you love” drove the super-successful:
Whether you are Jack Welch or the Dalai Lama, it is dangerous not to do what you love. If you don’t have a level of passion that drives your thinking about what you’re doing day in and day out, there will be others out there who are passionate who will overtake and outrun you. People who care will take the initiative away from those who are half-hearted. So loving what you do is a competitive imperative, not simply a nice thing to have.
Now, I’m not saying you can’t be a bazillionaire by creating the next big thing online (or offline). I’m just saying that success seems to favor those who really love doing what they do. Really kicking-ass at what you do takes persistence, discipline, and heartfelt dedication in staying real to what makes you tick.
Believe me, finding what you love to do is much easier said than done but when you find it, you’ll know. I’ve been doing what I thought I loved for quite a while now but found myself feeling unfulfilled. I’m now starting to see the bigger picture and I’m finally taking the first steps to move in that direction. You probably should start thinking about making that leap too.