I Tried Doing What I Love: Here’s What Happened

Working reluctantly can sap your energy. Discover how turning things around can bring joy back into your life.

The more you love what you are doing, the more successful it will be for you. — Jerry Gillies

Doing what you love – it’s almost a cliché. Yet, for most people, it’s far from reality. It’s a pity because working reluctantly drains all the joy out of your life. Here are some tips to turn the situation around!

I felt stuck in a job that drained my energy and enthusiasm. My true passion, however, was always in writing and cybersecurity. I have a unique background in ethical hacking, where I developed various tools and shared my knowledge through platforms like HackingPassion.com and GitHub. This journey into the world of hacking was exhilarating, but something was missing. I found in writing about personal development.

One day, I decided to make a significant change. I began dedicating my mornings to writing, starting with just an hour a day. This small change brought immense joy and eventually led to unexpected opportunities. I started a personal blog, and started with writing on Medium, where I could merge my interests in personal development, sharing stories and insights that resonated with a broader audience.

Enjoying Your Work vs. Dreading the Alarm

Finding joy in your daily activities isn’t a given for everyone. Picture this: the alarm goes off. You’re not happy. Not because you’re still tired but because it means the day has started again. Another day, you are doing something that doesn’t bring you joy—mind-numbing tasks, irritating colleagues, uninspiring meetings. You live from one day off to the next.

Sound familiar? Exactly. Not good. If you often dread the start of your day, it’s time to take action. Life can indeed be different. You want to do what you love. But you have to make it happen. No one will rescue you from this situation. So, it’s time to put in some effort! Let’s turn things around.

1. Transform Your ‘Unpleasant’ Tasks into Enjoyable Ones

Excellent. You want to start doing what you love. Let’s begin with your current tasks. You don’t always have to make drastic life changes. Sometimes, a few minor adjustments can reignite your inspiration for your work. Turning a bleak, uninspiring situation into a goal-oriented environment can make your work exciting and fun.

• Find ways to improve at what you do. If you aimed to become the best in your field, what steps would you take? Consider studying, reading books, experimenting, reading professional journals, etc. You can make your work much more enjoyable by challenging yourself to improve.
• Set challenging goals for yourself. For example, complete all tasks for the day by four o’clock. Or achieve a minimum response ratio. Or consistently surprise your boss with the quality of your work.
• **Strengthen your bond with your colleagues. Start by sharing your frustrations honestly and openly. Work on your social skills, such as active listening, and take the time to build meaningful connections with them.
• **Talk to your supervisor about feeling stuck. Let them know that you’re unhappy and would appreciate more challenges or a reduced workload.
• Make a list of the fun aspects of your job and the unpleasant aspects. See how you can reduce the ‘unpleasant’ list. Can things be delegated, eliminated, or transferred? Discuss this with your supervisor if necessary.
• Sometimes, the problem isn’t the work but your approach. Work often becomes boring without a goal. Get to work on yourself. Become better at what you do.

The more you learn, the more enjoyable your work life becomes. It then becomes more of a working experiment rather than your daily grind.

2. Visualize Your Ideal Life

What does “doing what you love” look like for you? Sit down with a notebook and a nice pen. And start dreaming. How would your ideal life look? How would your day go if you did what you love? Make a mind map or write it as a story, whatever works best for you.

My new free eBook can help you with this.

Your Pathway to Quickly Finding Direction in Life Gain more direction in your life quickly – use my practical 6-step plan to develop focus and guidance today. Find your answers fast. Download the free PDF now!

• What do you do when you get up? How do you fill your days? What do you want to achieve? What goals are you pursuing? How do you feel? Who are the people in your life? What kind of people do you surround yourself with? Where do you live? What have you achieved?

Don’t ask yourself if it’s possible. Ask yourself what you would want. How would your life look if you did something you loved? It’s funny because this exercise is more complicated than it seems. We always seem to know very clearly what we don’t want. But what we do want is usually less clear. You’re not making any progress by constantly fixating on what you don’t like. Identifying what you want to make meaningful changes in your life is crucial.

So get to work. Find out what you want. What your gut feeling tells you. Dare to dream. Just dare to write it down. There’s no consequence to writing it down. Nothing is expected of you once you write it down. So start writing. Don’t know what you want? Keep the question in your head, and return to your notebook in a few days.

Also, try flipping the things you don’t want—no nagging colleagues, so yes, friendly and inspiring colleagues. Look, now you’re moving forward quickly. Once you have a picture of your ideal life, we can move on to the next steps.

3. Set Your Goals and Plot Your Course

Your dream life is your direction. Now, it’s important to determine the route you’ll take. This means setting a few concrete goals for yourself. Inspiring goals that help you move forward, serving as guides, as dots on the horizon:

• Before I go on vacation, I will have enrolled in a course.
• This week, I’ll finish that book.
• I’ll talk to that colleague next week about the conflict.
• I will have registered with the Chamber of Commerce by next month.
• By the end of this month, I will have approached three people for a collaboration.

It doesn’t matter which goals you set, as long as they help you towards your dream life. They can be big or small goals, complicated or straightforward. The important thing is to think of them and write them down. Preferably, write them down every day. This keeps the goals fresh in your consciousness, and you’re more likely to make daily choices that help you move forward.

So imagine your ideal life becoming a reality. What steps would you have taken to achieve this? What goals would you have reached? Set these goals and use them as guides towards a better life.

By doing what you love, you inspire and awaken the hearts of others. - Satsuki Shibuya

4. Believe in Yourself and Take Bold Steps

If you believe you can ultimately do what you love, you’re already halfway there. The rest is mostly about taking practical steps and maintaining your motivation. Success is more than taking the proper steps very often—valuable things like making phone calls, having conversations, writing texts, reading books, and convincing people.

Believe that you can take these steps. You can learn everything you need to know, and if you want it badly enough, you can change your life because you can. And no, it won’t always go as quickly as you would like. But that’s not the most important thing. It’s about making progress that you’re moving forward.

If you keep that in mind and believe you can eventually achieve your ideal life, you can take on the world. And that’s a great feeling. Do you find it hard to believe in yourself? Then, don’t start building your dream life. Start building your self-confidence. Because once you have enough confidence in yourself, you can make it much faster.

The more confidence you have in yourself, the easier it becomes to change your life. It takes some effort. But it’s worth it. Putting on snow chains takes effort, too (at least, so I’ve been told). But without snow chains, it’s tough to cross that snowy mountain pass. Keep that in mind!

And then it’s time to be brave. Things are scary, that’s true. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do them. It means you need to have courage. Doing scary things pays off. It would be best if you did scary things to change your life. And that’s great because once you prove you can tackle something scary, your self-confidence grows fast!

5. Make Sacrifices for Your Dream

If you want to do what you love, you must sometimes sacrifice. “Oh great, making sacrifices.” Well, not so sarcastic. Making sacrifices is less harmful than it sounds. But only if you know what you’re doing it for. It’s not fun to skip a movie night when you hate your job and need something enjoyable. But it’s straightforward if you’re busy with your big ‘master plan’ towards a more satisfying life.

To make your dream come true, you will have to make sacrifices. This means sometimes trading more enjoyable, more straightforward, comfortable things for complex, challenging, uncomfortable things. And that’s fine. Because as long as you know what you’re doing it for and know it’s helping you move forward, it doesn’t feel so bad.

If you know you can quit your job in a few months because your business is slowly gaining momentum, it’s not so bad to do that lousy job. It pays the bills, and you look forward to the day you can quit. You know it’s temporary. A better future is just around the corner; if you want to change badly enough, you can make many sacrifices without too much effort.

That’s why it’s essential to design an inspiring future life—a life that’s worth it, that you believe in, and that ultimately feels achievable. It would be best if you kept yourself inspired to make sacrifices.

6. Move Forward Step by Step

It might seem like you’re stuck at times, but when you look back over the last few weeks, you’ll notice significant strides.

Some achievements are less visible, like growing self-confidence and the knowledge you’ve accumulated. These things are not visible but are essential. Additionally, you do all kinds of things every day that help you move forward, but you tend to forget about them. Once you’re enthusiastic about your goal, often more happens in a month than you think.

Accept that change sometimes goes slower than you’d like. It’s not about how quickly you make progress. It’s about making progress. You’ll eventually reach your destination if you keep walking in one direction long enough. All you have to do is lift your foot and place it forward. Over and over again.

Keep moving forward, step by step. Each step brings you closer to your more enjoyable life. It can take weeks, months, or even years, but it feels good as long as you’re moving forward.

7. Savor Every Moment

This is life. You’re experiencing this now, and the seconds are ticking away. No matter how much you want your life to be different, it is what it is now. And that’s fine.

Life doesn’t start when you’ve achieved your goals. It’s already begun. It’s already in full swing. Don’t forget that. Don’t forget to enjoy the good things you have right now. Don’t be frustrated. Be relaxed, brave, confident about the future, grateful for the progress, and content with the good things you experience.

Do you want more time with your friends, children, or partner in your dream life? Start now. Make your life a bit-perfect already. Enjoy all the beautiful things with full attention. And enjoy the developments you’re making. Your life is already worth it and will only improve from here. Live with that mindset; don’t let these beautiful moments slip your fingers.

You live now. Not later. Later is a new now, and then another new now. If you always think about later in every ’now,’ you haven’t consciously experienced this moment. And that’s a shame because every moment is valuable. Stop the frustration and get to work. Take control and enjoy every step.

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. — Albert Schweitzer

Personalized Guidance Available

Are you ready to sharpen your focus and achieve your goals with the power of simplicity? Schedule a personal consultation now. Discover how targeted guidance and strategies can accelerate your progress and enhance your success.

Take Action

Let this be when you focus fully on what truly matters. Book a Consultation and turn your clear vision into reality. Be focused. Be successful.

Stay Ahead of the Curve

If you found this article insightful and wish to master digital interactions and personal growth, subscribe to the Letter to Boost Your Mondays.

Catch My Daily Posts on Medium!

Explore daily articles on Medium, where I delve into personal growth, lifestyle design, and productivity. Each piece is crafted to inspire and provoke thought, blending practical advice with personal insights. Keep in touch with my latest reflections and join by following me at Medium