Don’t Just Do It

We’re often told to “do what you love” in reference to our careers.  What if you don’t know what you love?  Or better yet, what if the thing(s) you love cannot support your life or financial goals?  Then what?

Human beings can be a discontented bunch.  We tend to spend loads of time lamenting all the things we aren’t doing today.  Unfortunately that comes at a price – potentially a heavy one.  Going through the motions in your current role will only make it more difficult to see the opportunities under your nose.

Better advice would be to focus on being the best at whatever it is you are doing right now.   Your parents or grandparents may have told you “anything worth doing is worth doing well”.  Maybe this is the gem we need to heed because of their gift of experience!

Perhaps you don’t buy that.  In which case I’d ask you to think of instances where you invested energy and focus towards a worthy cause that didn’t provide you a positive experience personally or professionally.  Why not apply that logic to what you do today?  How much better could you be in your role?

Bottom line – go after anything you do with passion, commitment, and care.  You may learn to love it, or how a job well done makes you feel, or the fact that your opportunities accelerate due to your performance.  But whatever you do, please don’t take Nike’s advice at face value.  Instead, do it exceptionally well.

We’d love to hear how you turned something you did into something you love!