8 Reasons You Should Do Work You Love

  1. Self-fulfillment.  More important than money, fame, and power is self-fulfillment.  If you love painting, you will never be fulfilled doing something else, even if that thing earns you lots of money.  The only way to feel whole is to do work you love, as work you love gives you the kind of joy and satisfaction you can’t find anywhere else.
  2. You are more likely to excel.  There is no greater force or power than love.  When you love doing something, you are likely to spend more time doing it, inevitably becoming good at it, and are, therefore, more likely to succeed at it.
  3. You are easier to work with.  When doing something you love, you easily put petty things like ego and jealousy aside.  It is about the work and not about you—as a result, you become easier to work with—easier to teach and learn from.
  4. Life is better.  As you spend much of your life at work, it is only natural that life becomes easier if you do work that you love.  Hours you spend at work add up to days, days add up to months, and months add up to years.  You might as well spend them doing work that naturally comes to you.
  5. You are more likely to add to the discipline.  Throughout history, those who have either innovated or originated have had one thing in common: they immersed themselves in work they loved.  This is because, when you love something, you are curious about it; when you are curious about something, you study it; and when you study it, you discover all sorts of things about it.
  6. You can achieve your highest potential.  Your mind functions at its best when doing work you love; so do your heart and soul.  You are able to give your finest performance, thereby achieving your highest potential in the process.
  7. Financial rewards.  As you are more likely to excel at doing that which you love, you are more likely to earn more doing it.  The greater your love for something, the greater the energy you will pour into it.
  8. You were born to do it.  If you were born to do something, there’s no reason to do something else.  You were born to do work you love, not work you hate.  Your passions point to your purpose; your purpose points to the reason why you are still breathing.

(Written by: Matshona Dhliwayo, a Canadian based Philosopher, Entrepreneur, and author of books such as The Little Book of Inspiration, Creativity, The Book, 50 Lessons Every Wise Mother Teaches Her Son, 100 Lessons Every Great Man Wants You to Know, and Lalibela’s Wise Man.)