You're Not Supposed to Love What You Do

If I had a dollar for every time someone told me how lucky I was to be doing what I love…

Look, do what you love, love what you do, follow your passion, all of it is terrible advice. It just is.

We often struggle to figure out if we truly love doing something or if we just love the idea of it or the rewards we imagine.

And that’s why it gets tricky.

Love What You Do. Do What You Love.

We all know this one. It’s one of those short and sweet sentences that sound smart and wise and in time become terrible cliches.

But there’s more to it than meets the eye.

Most people will try to find a passion and do it and do it and so on. As long as they are inspired, as long as they love what they do.

But that’s only half of it.

The other half is “love what to do.”

In other words, develop the discipline to enjoy the parts that no one really likes doing. The hard work, the frustration, the countless failures. The parts that are boring.

Example?

Writing and editing. A lot of people loathe editing. Or writing and marketing a book. Or coming up with a pitch to sell a book. Or query letters.

There are parts that are crucial to one’s success that no one will ever clap for. Stuff that you have to do, whether you like it or not.

Of course, you can be a rebel and decide not to do those things, but then you’ll be running at 50% capacity, and it’s hard to climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pocket.

You are not meant to do what you love, because you will always fall in and out of love with what you do.

Yes, I love writing. But at the same time, there are about a thousand different things that I must do that have nothing to do with writing. And sometimes I hate it. Sometimes I don’t feel like writing. Sometimes I just want to do anything but write.

And, yes, sometimes I want to give up. Just like the 99% of the writers who quit after 3 months of blogging or after 10 e-book sales on Amazon.

But I don’t quit, and I don’t give it more than a moment’s thought.

Why?

Because I am good at it.

I’m not being arrogant. I’m good enough at what I do that people don’t ignore me. I make a living out of it. It’s okay.

Do you know how many bloggers I find on the web who are incredibly passionate about writing but are terrible at it?

Do I read their content, even though they are passionate? Of course not.

Would you choose as your doctor someone who’s passionate about your health and well-being, but never actually went through Med school?