Why doing what you love may not be the best advice for you

BY DANIEL COLE

How do you find out what you love to do, If you have? Take a moment to think about that. What factors contribute to you loving it? Is it an interest you’ve developed from childhood? What outcomes, feelings, or results do you need to have to be sure it’s exactly what you love to do? At what point do you start loving it? Are there other activities or vocation that you can do that will give you the same results, feelings or outcomes?

The phrase “do what you love”, if not well contextualized, is not only vague but also misleading. Our interests develop in childhood, and these interests are influenced by many social factors. As we age, these interests sometimes change. Hence, why some will take years studying a course, and upon graduation, choose a completely different career path. Doing what we love is a question of life purpose and calling, of which I believe everybody has one. Loving what we do, either it’s what we really love to do, is a question of perspective and our disposition towards life.

To come to a point where you give all your waking hours to doing what you love simply means you’ve mastered the art of making a living doing it. You may first have to find love doing what you are doing before you have the luxury of doing what exactly you love to do.

Not everyone will start out in life doing what they love to do, and by the way, most people are even yet to figure out what exactly they love to do with their life. Given a culture that is easily influenced by social media, celebrities and projected lifestyles, getting clarity about one’s life purpose and mission is quite a task.

We go to school, we learn some skills, and we pursue a career in line with what we’ve learnt, and as long as the vocation pays our bills, we love it. Over time, we call this what we love to do. Most people only do what they are skilled at and find a way of loving it. Sometimes life will demand we embrace opportunities that are outside our area of interest, the most important thing is not to lose grip or sight of what we really love to do with our life.

Steve Jobs has rightly said, “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to believe what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you found it. And, like with any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So, keep looking until you find it, don’t settle.” 

Man’s strongest instinct is survival. To a father who’s still struggling to provide three-square meals to his family, pay his children school fees, or provide shelter for his loved ones, to an adult who is still struggling to make both ends meet, the idea of doing what you love may not sound appealing. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do; to be able to do what you really need to do.

Not many people started out in life doing what they love, and it’s Ok. But once you identify the areas that best bring you results, joy and happiness, put more effort into those areas. Life is a journey, a journey of risk and uncertainties, a journey of twists and turns. Enjoy the ride, collect memories and live in the moment.