On the radio this morning, the morning show team asked listeners if they loved their job. It was fascinating at first because the DJ seemed surprised at how many people phoned in with amazing testimonials about why they love their job. I heard teachers, dentists, medical care professionals, entrepreneurs and other people who loved going to work, interacting with people and making a difference. I live in a government town, it is sad to say that it seems many people are working towards retirement instead of working in the moment and loving their jobs.
Why do you need to love your job/career? Why is it such a big deal?
There are so many reasons to love your job, here are my top 5 reasons:
- At least half of your waking hours are spent at work. If you are unhappy or frustrated when you are at work, then you are spending a huge part of you live in a negative place.
- Human generally want to learn and grow. It can be very difficult to invest and improve in your career if you are unhappy with what you are doing. It’s hard to imagine spending energy and investing time in something you don’t like. If you love what you do it is a pleasure to learn more and get better at what you do.
- We all need to be challenged and have a sense of accomplishment and worth. Feeling challenged by your career and feeling proud about what you accomplished is huge reward. It proves a sense of empowerment that affects all aspects of your life.
- Time flies by when you are doing something you love. You smile more, you laugh more, and you have more energy for everything in your life. If you love your job then the positive energy that creates will flow into all aspects of your life.
- You are healthier, happier and more loving. Yes it true, people who love what they do tend to be healthier because they are less stressed and they bring home the joy of their job not the problems.
I strong believe in the value of loving what you do whether you are an entrepreneur or working for a company. I’ve always disliked the phrase “life work balance”. Why, because work is the single biggest thing we spend our lives doing. I’m not saying it is the most important but it the place we spend the most amount of our time. It is so important to find fulfillment and joy in that.
Whatever you do, you need to own being happy at it. If you aren’t happy doing what you do ask yourself why. Commit to changing that, it might be changing your own attitude, a job or a career change.
Here is a great video of the Fish! Philosophy, which is about making the best of what you do, enjoying it and creating awesome experience for your customers.
Do you love what you do? What difference does that make in your life?
I love to see entrepreneurs follow their passions, serve more people and create the lifestyle of their dreams.
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Great post Heather, and I love the Fish video! Since leaving a job where there was a lot of negativity and starting my own business where I am able to interact with positive, supportive and encouraging people, I have noticed a huge difference in the way I feel about life and every day I am thankful for the life I have now!
Helen, what you are doing now will help you share that knowledge and experience with other women. If you haven’t already I recommend reading the Fish! books. The case studies are great.
So true! I also encourage people to focus on the positive in their lives, in work, in relationships, in movement… even if you don’t “love” your job, spending more time/ energy focusing on the things you DO enjoy engenders improvement!
Nadya: Definitely, it is about taking pride in your job. No matter what it is. I’ve just experience a 4 day and still going issue with people who do not take pride in their work. I’ve had 9 telephone and internet technicians in my home since Thursday trying to fix an outage. The work of the first 7 was sloppy and the communication horrible. The last one, who just left was great. He did more that he had to do, fixing part of their mess, and gave me his contact details if the last piece isn’t fixed tomorrow.
I think attitude and pride are so important and something we choose.
Thanks for posting. .
Hi Heather,
Great post here by loving what you do, you become engaged and it makes you feel like what you do is not actual work. I heard a great quote that states that “If you enjoy what you do then you never have to work a day in your life.”
Jason – Great quote and I was surprised to find out it was by Confucius. So true and it makes a huge difference to the people you work for and with. Thanks for commenting.
Oh! This post brought back great memories of the hospital I used to work for that employed the Fish Philosophy back in the early 2000s. It made for a much happier, healthier work environment for the employees, which of course was great for overall patient care.
I am going to bring this up to my HR manager on Monday too see how we can implement it in our workplace to boost employee morale, which has been extremely low lately. Thank you so much for this post!
Angie: That is great, I love the to hear how you conversation goes with the HR manager, it is a really powerful concept. I can see how it would make a huge difference in a health care environment.
So true! We spend so many hours in that environment that it might be difficult to “shake” that before arriving home too.
Paula – True, but image if someone loves what they do at work, then they don’t have to shake that feeling when the get home. They get to share it with the people they love. I have a friend who is an operating room nurse who loves what she does and no matter the shift she bring that positive energy home with her.
Even though I have found something I do love, I sometimes struggle with spending so much time doing it. All of the reasons here ring true though. We only have one life and we ought to spend it doing the things we love, including what we chose for work!
Carissa: I think we all struggle with how much time we spend working at times. I think the trick is not sacrifice too much of the other parts of life for any one part that you love. I’m glad you found something you love and you know, how fun is that?
I love my job and always try to give the best that I can and especially appreciate that when I see it in others too.
When someone enjoys what they do they can make your day so much brighter.
Lorraine, that is so true. Experiencing that type of person really does make you day brighter. It doesn’t matter what you do. A smile and giving someone your attention in the moment are huge powerful way to make someone’s day much more brighter.
I suppose I have been lucky in that since leaving school and doing a wide variety of different jobs from secretary to bar work and courier work, plus other jobs and now working online, I have loved everything I have done. It definitely shows on you if you love your job.
Merle – It absolutely shows on you and in all aspects of your life. The fact that you do what you do now and the way you share shows that and makes stopping by your website a pleasure.
So true! People aren’t necessarily attracted to what we do as much as how we do it. We notice the people who are lit up, and we want to be around that. And the people who are attracted to that are more likely to include our ideal clients.
Absolutely, I’m sure we all can think of someone who served us at a coffee shop or fast food restaurant who does it such a positive attitude that it can make a huge difference in someone’s day. I saw that yesterday at a McDonalds, one person was just exceptionally kind and went the extra. Helping seniors, give a balloon to a kid, and stopping to chat with a handicap person.