“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” Steve Jobs
Every Sunday, our family has a conference call where we reconnect and talk about our sweet, sour, spiritual, and surprise for the week.
During this past weekend’s call, our son shared about preparing for the MCAT. He recently finished his undergrad degree and wants to go to medical school.
Studying for a test for eight hours a day is a lot of work. It’s good work, productive, and meaningful. But it’s a lot of work.
As we were talking, my husband, a biochemistry professor who frequently advises medical school aspirants, said to our son, “Make sure you love the material.”
Our son said, “I do.
This was good to hear, but it gave me pause.
“Make sure you love what you are learning.” Where have I heard that before?
Last week, we had Marcus Buckingham on the podcast, talking about loving the work you do every day. Specifically, he said, Don’t try to “do what you love” for a living, but rather “Find love in what you do.” Sometimes when we start doing something, we feel like we love it, but over time, it can become difficult, tiring, grinding, wearing us down, and wearing us out. What began as an adventure starts to feel oppositional. Like we are battling with this thing, whether it’s preparing for a test, a specific project at work, or the totality of our job.
For example, my family has often heard me say; I have to do X. Even when it is an immense privilege to be doing X, whatever it is. But when something becomes a ‘have to,’ we simultaneously feel victimized, having seemingly lost our agency, and we confront opposition to the very thing that we were once eager and loving to do.
Be aware if you find yourself saying I have to. But more importantly, look for the love IN all the right places. In what you are doing today, for your work, and the people with whom you are doing the work. Listen to Marcus again for inspiration.
And you’ll want to listen to Brooke Romney, this week’s podcast guest and author of I Like Me Anyway. We had an in-depth conversation about parenting.
Among the many insights she shared was that instead of asking children what they want to be when they grow up, ask them what they LOVE to do. Because if you are like me, you didn’t know what you wanted to do or be, but you did know what you loved. That’s my invitation for the week.
Do your work, find love in what you are doing, love the people you are doing it with, and ask others what they LOVE to do.
Share the love.
My best,
Whitney
P.S. If you would like to be eligible for one of five copies of Brooke’s book, hit reply and tell me what you love to do!
