Do You Love What You Do?

This question applies to however you spend your day - whether it's working or parenting or volunteering or living a life of leisure (if that applies to you, give us all tips to getting there).  Generation X and the generations younger than us have been told to "Do what you Love and Love what you Do."  That has gotten many people into ridiculous debt pursuing journalism at a cost of $100K in student loans.  It can also make us feel as if we've failed if we don't always LOVE what we are doing.   So it has made me ponder: 1) Am I doing what I really love?  and 2) Can people be happy and content if they aren't doing what they really love?

On my journey, I have taken many different turns.  I got my undergraduate degree in finance, but realized before graduating that I really didn't enjoy finance that much.  Following the stock market on a daily or hourly basis didn't exactly feel like my life long dream. So I went into technology consulting hoping to find my passion.  All I really found was that I didn't have a passion for technology.  So then, I went back to graduate school and got my MBA.  I concentrated in marketing and there I found something that fit.  I liked being a marketer.  I loved the psychology, the strategy, the and marketing campaigns.  I liked working in a team, and I liked that there was always something new.  But I didn't like the hours and the pressure and the lack of time and energy I had for anything else.

So then what?  I took a less stressful brand management job, but it wasn't challenging or very fulfilling.  I had children, which I loved, but I knew that I wasn't cut out for being a stay-at-home mom.  So I found myself working for another Fortune 100 company (but from home) leading incentive programs.  I had no experience in this, but I saw an opportunity and I decided to build it into my own business.  I also started Piece of Cake Parties, which of course, gave me an opportunity to own my own business.

And what I learned was I am quite happy and content with "what I do."  Now do I have a passion for incentive programs?  No.  Do I have a passion for dealing with paperwork and taxes?  No.  If I truly did what I love, I would sit around all day eating dark chocolate and drinking wine.  But nobody wants to pay me to do that (if you do want to pay me to do that, please let me know).  But overall, I'm very fulfilled and satisfied with what I do.  I like getting up each day, and I feel good going to bed each night.  I get to think strategically and creatively everyday.  I own my work.  I have autonomy, and I can see the results of my labor.  I truly identify with what I do.  It feels like it's a part of what makes me me.  And it fits with the rest of my life - I can still be a mom and wife and not feel inadequate in those areas (at least I don't feel that way on a regular basis).

I guess what I learned was I don't think you have to LOVE what you do (be it work or parenting) to be happy and make money.  It doesn't have to be your passion.  In fact, sometimes passions should be left as hobbies.  There's no quicker way to dislike something than to make it a job.  But I do think you have to feel fulfilled and satisfied with what you do.  It needs to interest you, motivate you and give you a sense of accomplishment.  And it needs to feel like it fits you.  And it needs to fit with the rest of your life.

Maybe instead of worrying about finding our passions, we just need to find the thing that interests us and that we can truly own.  Then, be the best at it that job that we can be.  That creates satisfaction and accomplishment, which I would argue is what most of us really want.