Love what you do, and still work your a$$ off!
I’m not even going to mention Saint Patrick’s Day today, but cut me some slack because unlike the (insecure) armies of unfortunately-attired skanks girls desecrating Second Avenue (…fingers crossed they already stocked up on that Morning-After pill!), I’ve actually been to Ireland. I spent a summer hitch-hiking through Ireland’s gorgeous green countryside. I ate far too much fried food. I took many walks in the rain. I’ve even visited the pro-IRA murals in Belfast…which, interestingly enough, did not thrill the British soldiers patrolling the streets. They did not love coming upon me and my best friend, roaming the streets.Well, can’t please everyone.
No, I just wanted to share some thoughts on that expression, “Love what you do and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Um, that is horseshit. I adore what I do, my business is on fire, I’m in the midst of reaping some truly exciting opportunities…and I work constantly. If some child in Nepal or Cambodia was working as hard as I am, Amnesty International and the entire student body of Oberlin would be outraged (outraged!) and protesting somewhere. But since it’s my business and I am–occasionally-an adult, I just have to suck it up. Which is fine because the harder I work, the more interesting and vivid my life is getting.
Love what you do and you still work like a maniac…except that the work gets more interesting, you learn to trust yourself more, you open up more and you start seeing the positive after-effects of that confidence in all aspects of your life. You lose some fears, maybe you gain, temporarily, a few others, but increasingly you think, “Welp…I came this far. F**k it.” Ideas and confidence and action lead to more, and better, ideas and confidence and action.
But yes, you will work like you’ve never worked before. You will slave. And I say this as someone who was in network news for years, and covered breaking news all around the world; and as someone who suffered through law school. Those episodes literally seem like a relaxing stroll in the park, compared to the sturm und drang of getting a small business up and running. Maybe I just miss having TV writers to scream at in public…memories/light the corners of my mind….http://youtu.be/GNEcQS4tXgQ
You’ll work like you never worked before..and you’ll reap results and opportunities which before would have seemed impossible. So there’s that. Want some help working on your own impossibilities? Email me @carlotazee@gmail.com or like my Facebook page, “Carlotaworldwide Creativity Yenta,” for a free consultation. (TV writers are included in this offer; I promise not to yell. At first.)