If you wish to get and excel at a job, one of the most important things you can do for yourself and for your employer is to love what you are doing. When I say, “love what you are doing,” I truly mean it. You must be so passionate about what you are doing you can hardly believe you’re getting paid for it.
I do not care if you are 20 years old or 65 years old, you need to find and do work you enjoy. People who enjoy their work are the ones who advance and do well in any calling.
Love of your work is a source of inspiration. It is something that makes you more creative in your job and gives you energy to work harder. Being playful in your job makes you happier. Making your job a game makes every moment something to grow from and makes your life much more enjoyable.
Let me tell you about someone I know quite well who loves his job. He has a library of thousands of books. He has so many books he had special shelves built in his office. He has books all over his basement. He has books crowded beside his bedside. He has DVDs all over his living room. He spends weeks away from his family each year going to seminars, in order to learn more.
All of these books, CDs, and DVDs cover topics such as management, getting jobs, finding satisfaction in one’s career, and others relevant to people wanting to improve themselves.
He reads these books before he goes to bed at night and when he gets up in the morning. He reads them when he exercises and uses a stair-master instead of a treadmill to exercise, just so he can read during his cardio workout. He even listens to CDs about whatever he is studying when he is driving.
He’s angered by the thought of people who go to work just to make money. He knows people who go to work just to make money typically work less, contribute less to their employer and the people they are helping, and they are not interested in long-term relationships with their work or their employers. He knows of countless people who think of work as just work, who are miserable. He speaks with these people every single day. He knows if you truly enjoy your work and get into your work, you will have a life that is incredibly meaningful. This person truly believes what he is doing is the most important thing in the world.
If you met this person in a normal situation, you might find him a little boring. But if you ask him about what he does for a living, he will become animated and his face will change. He will sit up and become very excited and talk about what he does for hours if you let him. His enthusiasm for his work is so sincere and profound he smiles whenever he thinks about his job. This person is angry he has to sleep each night because he would rather be doing his work.
The person I am speaking about is I. I have found my passion, and my passion is helping you and others get jobs. I love what I do and I want nothing more than profound success for everyone, because I know what everyone is capable of achieving.
I was once in a job I detested, and I was unhappy. I got out the second I found something that seemed like fun and appealed to me spiritually. I am getting an enormous amount of happiness and satisfaction out of my job and my life because I’m doing what I want.
When I was in high school, I remember sitting in a Denny’s one day at lunch with a group of friends, talking about other people. We must have spoken about 10 other people in depth over the course of 45 minutes. At the end of the conversation, I realized that each person we had spoken about had a special talent. One might have been really good at math, for instance; another person might have been very capable socially; another might have been an outstanding athlete, another an amazing writer, another a very talented saxophone player. I realized each person had a very special gift, or combination of gifts that made him or her unique and special. As I have gone through life, I have come to realize everyone has special and unique abilities.
We need to do what we enjoy because this can give us immeasurable and long lasting happiness. This is the most simple career advice I can give.
One of the most remarkable people I know is a mathematical genius – and no, I am not talking about myself this time. This person was so good at math, physics, and other disciplines as a kid that he was already taking college calculus classes when he was in middle school. He never liked math-related disciplines, though. He was more interested in journalism. Incredibly, he was never a particularly gifted writer, but writing was something he loved to do.
Just because we are good at something does not mean it’s what we like to do. Today, this man is a journalist and he loves his job. He’s good at it, too, and he runs a newsroom in a major city. While he took calculus at the age of 13 at the local community college, he was actually struggling to get by in English and the other classes he enjoyed.
Perhaps he could have designed rockets, been a professor at MIT – who knows. But instead he followed his passion and pursued something he loved.
Today, when I see pictures of him, he looks content and enriched. His family is healthy, and I can tell deep down they are all happy. When this fellow was working complex math problems many years ago, I do not think he was happy at all.
There is something inside of you that lights your fire. What is it? Become passionate about your work and find something that elevates you.
What do you read about in your spare time? What part of yourself would you improve to become better at doing what you love?
In November of 2008 I attended the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco. I saw the CEO of Yahoo!, Al Gore’s boss at Kleiner Perkins, the CEO of Zappos shoes, and other famous people (I missed Lance Armstrong, unfortunately). When I see people like this, I know they love what they are doing, because they speak with so much passion. You too can, and should, love what you are doing. I know many people who do their jobs because they love them.
People who reach great heights in any discipline get there through a love of their job. Love of a job comes from a genuine, heartfelt passion deep inside a person. What motivates you to get out of bed? What would you do if you could do anything with your day? That is exactly where you belong and it is the path you should be following.
THE LESSON
In this article, Harrison explains how important it is to love the work you are doing. Being good in the work at hand is one thing, being truly passionate about it is another. Harrison believes that your performance level will significantly rise if you love your work. Being genuinely happy about the work you do inspires you to work more and work better. People who work primarily for money are generally those who work less, contribute less, and are not interested in long-term relationships with their work or their employers. In contrast to them, are those who harbor a heartfelt passion about their work deep inside them, which helps them reach great heights in any discipline. So it’s only natural that you gain advancement and a true feeling of fulfillment when you really love your work.
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About Harrison Barnes
Harrison Barnes is the Founder of BCG Attorney Search and a successful legal recruiter himself. Harrison is extremely committed to and passionate about the profession of legal placement. His firm BCG Attorney Search has placed thousands of attorneys. BCG Attorney Search works with attorneys to dramatically improve their careers by leaving no stone unturned in a search and bringing out the very best in them. Harrison has placed the leaders of the nation’s top law firms, and countless associates who have gone on to lead the nation’s top law firms. There are very few firms Harrison has not made placements with. Harrison’s writings about attorney careers and placements attract millions of reads each year. He coaches and consults with law firms about how to dramatically improve their recruiting and retention efforts. His company LawCrossing has been ranked on the Inc. 500 twice. For more information, please visit Harrison Barnes’ bio.
About BCG Attorney Search
BCG Attorney Search matches attorneys and law firms with unparalleled expertise and drive that gets results. Known globally for its success in locating and placing attorneys in law firms of all sizes, BCG Attorney Search has placed thousands of attorneys in law firms in thousands of different law firms around the country. Unlike other legal placement firms, BCG Attorney Search brings massive resources of over 150 employees to its placement efforts locating positions and opportunities that its competitors simply cannot. Every legal recruiter at BCG Attorney Search is a former successful attorney who attended a top law school, worked in top law firms and brought massive drive and commitment to their work. BCG Attorney Search legal recruiters take your legal career seriously and understand attorneys. For more information, please visit www.BCGSearch.com.