“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
That quote by Howard Thurman is one I find myself quoting to myself and my peers quite often. When we think of what we can do for a job and what a job, in turn, can do for us, we tend to think very transactionally and factually. And there are some good foundations to that concept. You should be compensated appropriately. You should see a job where they hours fit your schedule and lifestyle. But what about the tasks you are actually doing in the time span you are getting paid for? There will always be pros and cons to every job. It is unavoidable. The trick is to find one where the good outweighs the bad, and hopefully, makes it all feel worth it.
Your life as a whole should reflect just that concept as well. Your life should make you come alive. You should be thriving in it, not surviving it.
And I know what you’re thinking…
Stephanie. Joy? Passion? In this economy? Who has that privilege? It’s kinda hard to do when you’re just trying to make ends meet? And you want me to what…dream?
Yes. I do. Because we will never get out of the mess of a society we are in if we stop dreaming of a different way to go about living. We were taught what worked in the previous generation. And it’s clearly not working now. But we have to start making different decisions from a different perspective.
And that starts with recognizes that we shouldn’t be so much worried about “fueling our passions,” but using our passions to fuel our life. And I do say passions with an “s” because we are in fact allowed to have more than one and build a life where all of them are used.
Part of burn out isn’t always that we are doing too much; its that we are doing too little of what fulfills us. We are filling our time for money, but we are filling it with the wrong things. Have you ever heard of the term “good busy?” Now when was the last time you were “good busy?”
I hit a nerve there didn’t I?
Now that I am in my 30’s I am more focused on building a life versus building a career. That doesn’t change that I am stupidly ambitious, but I trying to make decisions that allow me to live out all of my passions. Our corporate system often tells us you have to choose one thing and be that one thing. You don’t. You can do and be many things even if you can’t do them all at once. The Japanese term “Ikigai,” which is a deep philosophy regarding physical, mental and emotional well being connected to one’s purpose is often accompanied by a diagram that looks at:
- What you love
- What you’re good at
- What the world needs
- What you can get paid for
I think too often we invert this diagram and ask ourselves question number 4 and don’t even get to question number half the time because what we love and what we find fun are often the things society tells us we need to sacrifice to be “successful.” In fact, it is quite the opposite. Working at a job that makes you a lot of money, but you often hate is not sustainable. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do to survive, but that can only last for so long. And it very often turns you into a very unhappy person that lashes out unfairly at everyone else around in the process. We often find ourselves in that place because following our passions, looking at what we love to do, is seen as a frivolous risk instead of a necessity.
By identifying our passions first we are creating a chain reaction that will help people along the way. And whether that is because you are in a state of fulfillment to give to those around you on a daily basis or because your passions lead you to utilizing a skillset that may literally change the lives of others is yet to be seen, but it is still the best and necessary first step.
If you care about something you will work hard enough to be good at it and if you’re good enough at it you can get paid for it. But you have to put it in the right order.
So, what do you love to do?