Do What You Love

by Brandon Jubar

This recessionary economy has started to change the way that many of us view the work that we do to earn a living. Whether we call it work, a job, a career, or a vocation, the fact is that the rising unemployment rate has either hit us personally or feels like a dark shadow looming up behind us. Forget climbing the corporate ladder! We just want to be one of the people still holding on when the ladder stops shaking!

For most of my career, I've been doing things with an eye on the future. How does this job help position me for the next promotion? What projects can I do to put me in front of the right people? Who has a great deal of knowledge that they might be willing to share with me? When will the next opportunity come along?

Now, I've always tried to do an excellent job, so please don't think that I've been scheming and conniving my way through my career. The thing I realize now, however, is that I haven't always done a good job because I enjoy doing the job, nor because the job deserved to be done well. I've always done a good job because it's a stepping stone to a better-paying job. In other words, it's almost always been about the destination, not about the journey.

This is becoming clear to me now because I've been in the same job for a number of years. As my company continues to downsize, raises and promotions have been put on hold. Virtually all progress up the corporate ladder has stopped, even though many, many rungs stand empty. What this means in regards to the job I'm currently doing is that there is no end in site. There is no "next opportunity" on the horizon.

One saving grace is that, generally speaking, I like what I do. Not only do I like it, I'm also extremely good at it. However, I can't honestly say that I love it. And if I don't love what I'm doing, it eventually turns into drudgery.

That's all very clear to me now because my options are so limited. It's normally very difficult to switch vocations mid-career without taking huge steps backwards, and it's virtually impossible to do so in this terrible economy. But I have been reading more and more about people who have lost their jobs and decided to pursue their passions instead of striving to get back into the same old rat race they were in before. It's encouraging to see that many people are turning a set-back into a catalyst for something much better. I mean, if you're forced to start over, why not do what you love?

And that, my friends, is the advice I'm giving to any young person who will listen. Do something you love. I've known far too many people with plenty of money and misery to match. But I've yet to come across someone who loves what they do and is miserable. And if you can't have a job that you love, then put your focus on your passion and consider your job as simply a means of supporting it. For if you love your God, care for your family, and do something you're passionate about, how can this economy possibly get you down? It can't. But you have to find a way to do what you love.

Peace,
~Brandon