Love What You Do, Until You Do What You Love!
Republished from September 3, 2001
Make Your Work a Labor of Love…
Love What You Do, Until You Do What You Love!
Every Labor Day, I think about and reflect on my labor for the year; what I’m doing, how I’m doing it, who I’m doing it with, and why I do it at all. Work is a big and important part of life, livelihood and living. We can express who we are through our labor.
I often think about, “What is my right livelihood? What am I here to do?”
How do you make your work a labor of love, even if it feels like drudgery or a dead end?
Here’s the answer:
Love your work.
Whatever you do, with whomever you’re doing it, love it.
That’s it. Nothing more, and nothing more simple.
If you already love your work, then share that love with someone else. It might be the best gift you give them.
If you DON’T love your work, here’s my suggestion:
LOVE WHAT YOU DO, UNTIL YOU DO WHAT YOU LOVE!
Marsha Sinetar has a great message in her book, “Do What You Love, and the Money Will Follow.” Nothing could be more profoundly satisfying than to simply do what you love.
The problem is, most people are not doing what they love.
They are doing what they think pays the best.
That’s choosing a livelihood in order to make the best living.
There is nothing wrong with that.
Love it.
Some people do what they do for security and benefits.
There is nothing wrong with that.
Love it.
Most people do what they do to “live” well. They want to have a home and nice things, travel, put their kids through college, and build a comfortable retirement. That’s what self-determination is all about.
Our system rewards determination, effort and results.
Love it.
Other people choose to do work they love, but can’t seem to make a living at it. They struggle, torn between enjoying a livelihood they love, and earning a living.
It’s simply not true that IF you do what you love, the money will follow.
The number of people who are not satisfied with their work is estimated at higher than 50%. More than half of us are unhappy with our labor (and how we are rewarded for it). Most people “dream” of a better job and better pay or better yet, working for themselves.
The new American Dream is NOT home ownership.
Most people who really want a home can own one.
The new American Dream is BUSINESS ownership.
For many, it’s HOME-BUSINESS ownership.
As I have said many times, ANYONE can start a business, but…
ONLY ONE PERSON in 20 will still be in business profitably, 10 years from now.
Work unhappiness adversely affects individual performance, diminishes personal productivity, and reduces profit-ability. What’s a solution to this dilemma?
LOVE WHAT YOU DO, UNTIL YOU DO WHAT YOU LOVE.
Right now, re-frame whatever you’re doing.
See it as a necessary (and chosen) step in your life, livelihood and living.
Do this, and you will no doubt find the value and lessons you need to learn. Where you are today is a life step toward something else, whatever you choose next. You can choose to remain in your work, move on to another company, start your own business, or completely change your livelihood. The choice is yours.
Whatever you decide, you will still work. Work is vital and necessary to the human spirit, and critical to improve our human condition. If you’re going to work anyway, you might as well…
LOVE WHAT YOU DO, UNTIL YOU DO WHAT YOU LOVE!
IF YOU LOVE WHAT YOU DO, YOU’LL ALWAYS BE DOING WHAT YOU LOVE.
I often quote Wayne Dyer’s definition of selling:
“Fall in love with what you do. Then, sell the LOVE.”
How do you fall in love with what you do?
LOVE WHAT YOU DO, UNTIL YOU DO WHAT YOU LOVE.
Be present in what you’re doing, RIGHT NOW.
Do it a little better each time. This is success.
Our culture is obsessed with doing and having MORE.
Much less focus is placed on being BETTER and doing GOOD.
We want to make more money.
More money comes as a result of being better, AND doing good.
Being better and doing good are conscious choices.
LOVE WHAT YOU DO, UNTIL YOU DO WHAT YOU LOVE.
At the end of your days, will you regret not having more or will you reflect on being better and doing good?
Having and doing are extrinsic (tangible) values.
They are important, but they have finite value.
Work is an extrinsic value.
Livelihood is an important part of life, but it is NOT life itself.
Being is intrinsically valuable.
It has infinite value to us, and the world around us.
Love is an intrinsic value.
It is the MOST important and valuable part of life.
Love IS life itself.
Loving yourself and others is the essence of being spiritual.
Spirituality is an intrinsic value.
EVERYONE is a spiritual being.
When you love your work, you bring intrinsic value to it.
It becomes special and unique.
It is a spiritual experience.
Ten years ago companies hired me to help them increase their bottom line.
Today, they hire me to help them bring spirituality to the workplace.
What a difference a decade makes.
How do you bring spirituality to your work?
It’s simple, yet often not easy.
LOVE WHAT YOU DO, UNTIL YOU DO WHAT YOU LOVE!
If you love what you do, there is intrinsic value whether the money (promotion, raise, sale, bonus, recognition, etc.) follows or not. If you love what you do, and you bring your spirit to it, there is intrinsic reward.
ALL WORK CAN BE SPIRITUAL.
IT’S NOT A FUNCTION OF THE WORK.
It’s not about what you do.
It’s about how you do it.
HOW YOU DO ANYTHING IS HOW YOU DO EVERYTHING.
If you want to bring spirituality to the workplace, simply…
LOVE WHAT YOU DO, UNTIL YOU DO WHAT YOU LOVE.
Money is an extrinsic value. It has NO intrinsic value.
If you choose to do what you love, there is no guarantee the money will follow.
But…
IF YOU LOVE WHAT YOU DO, UNTIL YOU DO WHAT YOU LOVE, then…
You will enrich your life and enliven your livelihood. Bringing love to any kind of work yields rewards on all levels of value. It’s highly likely that whatever you do, if you do it as a labor of love, it will reward you in kind and often beyond measure, in money and so much more.
Skills, learning and self-awareness build residual value for life.
There is NO UNIMPORTANT WORK.
There are NO BAD JOBS.
I paid my way through college as a short order cook and counterman. I learned so much about serving others that 30 years later I’m still using those serving skills.
The view that things are either/or, important/unimportant, good/bad, right/wrong, perfect/imperfect is the perfection trap we set for ourselves. We think we ought to be doing the “perfect” work, have the perfect job, find the perfect livelihood, and earn a perfect living.
This “paradox of perfection” is pervasive in our culture and causing serious problems.
In the two-dimensional world of thinking, everything is either perfect or imperfect. Perfect is an absolute (and absolutely unattainable) standard that anything less than perfect is by definition, imperfect. We spend our lives seeking the perfect work, when every day in front of us we have the opportunity to love the work we already have chosen to do.
The key here is CHOSEN TO DO.
When viewed from the intrinsic dimension of value, your work and the way you do it are unique and special as YOU are. You chose your work (even if by default), and IT CHOSE YOU. It’s what’s here and now. It’s not forever, unless you believe it has to be, or think you have “no choice” in the matter.
As much as we resist, and whether we acknowledge it or not, the truth of life is that…
WE ARE ALWAYS at CHOICE.
We are where we are BY CHOICE.
We don’t always have choice about what we get.
We always have choice about what we do.
Acknowledging that you are where you are BY CHOICE gives you the power to choose again.
Start today, Labor Day, 2001. Choose your work as a labor of love.
If you already love your work, share that love with someone else.
If you don’t, then simply try each day to…
LOVE WHAT YOU DO, UNTIL YOU DO WHAT YOU LOVE.
Make your work a labor of love.
LOVE WHAT YOU DO, UNTIL YOU DO WHAT YOU LOVE.
Happy Labor Day.
Mitch, CEO — Chief Encouragement Officer™
Love What You Do, Until You Do What You Love!
Republished from September 3, 2001
© 2001 – 2007 Mitch Axelrod and Axelrod Learning.
All Rights Reserved.
