Are You Doing What You Love or Do You Love What You Do in Your Job or Career?

This is a monthly series of three articles (starting in late April 2009) intended to help you BeHappy! in your career, your job, your trade, or your profession. This introductory article focuses on the difference between making a living "doing something you love" (which is something that involves a passion of yours) and "loving what you do" - even if it doesn't involve something you are passionate about.nn If you are currently in a job or pursuing a specific career, you know it can be very rewarding – and also very difficult. It's tough to get a career going in the first place. It requires commitment, determination, and persistence. Even before that, you had to decide what career or profession to pursue. If you’ve already made that decision, how did you make it? Was it something you just "stumbled into"? Did you feel obligated to go into a particular field, perhaps due to a family business situation or to meet your parent’s expectations? Did you need to get into something quickly just to "make a living" and provide for yourself and your family? Or did you choose your career based on a personal life-long passion? n Regardless of how you got into the career you're pursuing or the job you're in, there are three basic scenarios for how you feel about it:

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1. You feel great because you are making a living doing something you love (it involves your passion in life)n
2. You feel great because you love what you do for a living (but it’s not something you truly love – in other words, it’s not your passion in life)n
3. You feel bad because you are not doing what you love AND you don't love what you do

And, now, in the current economic climate, there is a fourth ... you feel lucky to just have a job (and an income) because the alte ative is much worse - regardless of how much you dislike what you do for "a living". For the purposes of this article, though, I'm going to focus on the first two - and specifically the difference between doing what you love and loving what you do. Number 3 is an extremely complex and serious issue, requiring a whole separate article to address (and more, like perhaps coaching). nnnDoing What You Love versus Loving What You Do As far back as I can remember I wanted to become a doctor. When I was 5 years old, all I wanted in the whole world was a dissection kit, so I could study the anatomy of frogs, lizards, and other creatures I could find (I know - I'm sorry - I was just a kid and didn't know any better. I feel terrible about it now, but back then, it was my passion and I didn’t appreciate what I was doing to these living creatures). As I got older (around 10 or 11), my passion continued to grow. My favorite show on TV back then was Medical Center (yes, I watched TV back then - no more today). It was a weekly show and my parents let me stay up that one night a week to watch it. Later, I went into college as a "pre-med" student and after a long, difficult, intense several years of study, I finally got into medical school. And it wasn't on my first try. No, it took me two years of the most intense work and effort anyone could imagine. I basically had "no life" for two years while I worked night and day (literally) to get into med school. It’s a long story, but to make a long story very short, I finally got in. And I loved it. In fact, my four years of med school were some of the best, most memorable years of my life - even though it was incredibly difficult. I then went through the very tough, sleep-depriving internship/residency training and went into private medical practice. And guess what? I didn't love it!! In fact, I grew to actually despise it. So, again to make a long story short, after about five years in private practice, I decided to make a career change. It's something I had to do. I went back to school (business school), got my M.B.A., and entered the business world as the medical director of a small pharmaceutical company. I even took a significant cut in my income (more than 50%) to make it happen. And, over the next 19 years (1989-2008), advanced in my career to be the CEO of two biotech companies, one in Irvine Califo ia from 1996 to 2001 and one in Vancouver Canada from 2001 to 2008. It was a great job and a very good career. I was good at it, and I grew to love it. Why did I tell you all this? Because ... this is an example of a situation where I pursued my long-term passion (to become a doctor) but when I got into the practice of medicine, I didn't love what I did, so I made a career change, went into something I wasn't truly passionate about (pharmaceuticals) but learned to love what I did. I'll talk more about how that can be achieved in Part Three of this series, so for now let me address the doing what you love part. Some people (unfortunately relatively few) have the required combination of (1) vision, (2) opportunity, and (3)commitment to pursue their passion as a means to support themselves and their families financially. And yes, all three are essential. In my case, for example, I had the opportunity and the commitment; I guess I lacked the full "vision" to see what it was really like in the medical field (which I found out quickly I didn’t love). Much of what I saw was the superficial glamor and prestige conveyed on "Medical Center". And it's not like that at all - especially these days.nn Many of the most visible examples of people doing what they love are sports figures, actors, dancers, writers, photographers, and musicians. These are activities many of us (including those doing it for a living) either do – or would do – for free; and many of us even pay to do some of these things. You know what I mean. It’s like the person who dreamed all their lives about becoming a Broadway actor or dancer (had the vision); went to school on loans, scholarships, or their own cash to learn to act and dance (had the opportunity); and then spent years and did hundreds of auditions (and lived through hundreds of rejections) to work their way up to Broadway (had the commitment). [Important note: some of you may be thinking right now that this also involves “luck”. Well, that’s for another article, but in my opinio “luck” is merely what happens when opportunity meets preparation. In other words, if you have the vision and commitment, when the “opportunity” presents itself – and it will – you’ll be prepared and “luck” happens]nn Now, let’s get back to the difference between doing what you love and loving what you do. It’s like when I asked my very good friend, Jeff - who earns his income by being a draftsman - if he loves what he does, and he said “yes”. Then I asked him if he was doing what he loved in his job? His initial response was, “it’s the same thing, isn’t it?” n “Oh, no, no, no”, I replied. It can be completely different. nn So I asked him in a different way ... “if you could make the same amount of money as you’re making now as a draftsman, doing anything in the world, what would it be?” His answer was, “surfing”. I happen to know Jeff’s true passion in life (other than his wife, Patty) is surfing, so I knew the “right” answer for Jeff to be doing something he loves would involve surfing. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t love what he does as a draftsman, because he does. It’s just not his passion in life. He probably wouldn't do it for no pay (at least not full time). It’s the same for me with the pharmaceutical business. It’s not my passion, but I have loved the jobs I've had in my biotech career. And after 20 years in the pharma/biotech business, I recently left my full-time CEO role and am now “rejuvenating” by pursuing one of my passions – writing and “infopreneuring” (which continues to be consistent with my mission in life of being a positive, creative force for health and happiness). This picture is me at the launch of my first book, BeHappy! (its' my only published book to date – but I’m working on my second and third books right now ... one called BeHappy! at Work and the other called BeTogether, which is a book on relationships).nnAchieving Your Desired Career/Job Outcome Whether you are in a job now or plan to pursue a career in a specific field, the objective is the same: ideally, it is to do what you love. Many times that’s not feasible or practical. Usually that’s because the opportunity is not there. For example, if your passion is golf, but you’re not good enough to become a professional golfer, it might not be the best decision to pursue that career. Or perhaps you’re a sales person for a software company, which is unrelated to your passion and desire to be a television sports commentator, but you have a family to support and have no experience or qualifications for sports commentary. In this case you might not feel you can afford to spend the time (probably many years) and money (surely tens of thousands of dollars) to make the change right now. Again, the "opportunity" might not be there right now. It doesn’t mean it can never happen, it just means it may be delayed. If it’s not the opportunity that’s lacking, it’s then usually because your "commitment" to go through the tremendous sacrifice that is likely required is not as high as it needs to be to succeed. For example, if your passion is playing music but you’re not prepared to spend the countless hours of practice everyday to get good enough to “make a living” at it, you may never be able to break into the music business and support yourself. n In both these examples, as in most situations, there is always a way – even if it’s just to use those passions in some other area of your life (and maybe even making a few bucks in the process). But, it may be secondary to your primary job or career. Also, we have all heard the stories about those people with such a high commitment level that they have made the opportunity appear. They go to school at night or on weekends learning the new skill required. They pursue their dream of being a doctor, for example, at the age of 50 - doing whatever it takes to make it happen. Nothing is impossible. We've all heard the saying, "where there's the will - there's a way". That's so true. Again, though, the ideal is to do what you love. Some experts coach that this is not only an ideal, but a requirement. They say you must pursue your passion if you are to be successful and happy in life. I don’t fully agree. Because I have been there … and have been both successful and happy - doing something that was not my passion. Now, I have an opportunity to explore my true passion through my book writing and this website. I view it as just another path on my life’s journey. Yes, my opinion is that the ideal of doing what you love as a career is not essential for you to be happy and successful. What is necessary, though, is for you to love what you do. And that’s possible for anyone and everyone. This topic - loving what you do - is the subject of Part Two of this series called, "Learning to Love What You Do - Whatever It Is" (expected out in late May 2009). For now, I hope you know the difference between doing what you love and loving what you do. And if you haven't yet chosen a career, or if you're in the process of deciding what to do with your future employment options, explore the possibility of entering something that relates to your passions. Have a vision. Explore all the opportunities. Once you have made a decision, make a commitment to do whatever it takes to achieve success in the area you love. If, however, you are in a job or career you don't like, then go to www.behappy101.com for more information to help you either learn to love it or make a positive change.nnBeHappy! my friends