Via Do what you love? I found some wisdom about doing what you love and liking what you do. Definitely a post worth reading and more so; the essay that it actually is about.
“…How much are you supposed to like what you do? Unless you know that, you don’t know when to stop searching. And if, like most people, you underestimate it, you’ll tend to stop searching too early. You’ll end up doing something chosen for you by your parents, or the desire to make money, or prestige—or sheer inertia.”
I love this little piece of wisdom. For several reasons. One of the reasons that I like this essay is that it describes how at a very young age we’re already expected in a way to choose what we want to do for the rest of our lives. And while that’s all good when we’re young, we might realize as adults that we didn’t quite know what we were doing at the time. A couple of years ago I decided to switch careers. Back in the days way back in my childhood I was always told that I had to go do something with my drawing skills. I was good at it, so why not do something with it? I studied advertising and graphic design and after having worked in that field for 6 years, I decided to quit and start from scratch somewhere completely new in a business field I’d never explored before. Because whilst I was good at what I was doing, it didn’t fit my personality. And it wasn’t making me very happy. This career change turned out to be the best choice I’d made in a long while. I recognize how this piece describes how you should never stop looking for that thing that’s going to make what you do enjoyable. Being in a job you don’t like can quite literally ruin your life. After all you’re spending quite a bit of your time on the job and if you work full-time like I do it can become quite the strain when it’s something that’s just not suiting your fancy.
Yesterday my friend Inspired Aspirations wrote about how she feels being an aspirant writer and whether or not she had to pull through with this passion, if she could even do it. She writes about how hard it is to continue when all odds are against you and when success isn’t automatically coming your way. Even though something is your life’s passion. I think she’s doing it right; she’s pursuing her dream and though she might find it hard to continue I think that it’ll be worth it in the end.
…Whichever route you take, expect a struggle. Finding work you love is very difficult. Most people fail. Even if you succeed, it’s rare to be free to work on what you want till your thirties or forties. But if you have the destination in sight you’ll be more likely to arrive at it. If you know you can love work, you’re in the home stretch, and if you know what work you love, you’re practically there.
The long version of the actual post by Paul Graham can be found here for more inspiration. I hope that by re-posting it I can help others who feel they’re running towards a wall in a dead-end job. It’s never too late to start doing what you like. Enjoy!
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