“If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.”
I’ve heard this my whole life. It’s one of those sayings that gets tossed around without really thinking about what it means. Ideally this means if you love what you are doing it doesn’t feel like work, but is that true?
Have you ever loved something that you had to work hard at? I loved playing soccer, but I worked incredibly hard to earn my starting position. I didn’t always want to condition on my own, or go to practice, and I certainly didn’t love when my coach got mad at us, and we had to run laps.
I love my husband, but having a great marriage takes work! (On both sides. I can be fair here.) People love raising their kids, but I dare you to find one parent who says it doesn’t feel like work. The best things in life take work.
When did work become a bad thing?
At some point the word “work” contracted a negative connotation. People don’t like going to work. People don’t like things that are hard work. It’s like putting forth effort harms us. I’m so grateful that my parents not only instilled a great work ethic in me, but they taught me to be proud of the work I put into things. My work ethic has been one of the biggest sources of my confidence, and the biggest reason I’ve achieved the success I have so far.
You can’t achieve anything great (a successful career, a happy marriage, physical health), without putting in work.
I hope that the next time you look at anything that seems like a lot of work, you get excited about the great things that will come from it.
I promise you, it’s worth it.
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