Can you do what you love for a living? — Four Things I Have Learned
Someone once said, “Love what you do, and it will never feel like work”. And as much as I truly love what I do for a living there is a ton of work involved. But as I, alongside many of my friends, start to hit the middle of our lives, the question of “what truly makes me happy?” keeps coming up.
You grow up. You finish school. Maybe you have some aspirations for your future. And then you tumble into a career and life just kind of happens.
Twenty years in, many of us have changed or shifted our dreams over the years. We work to make money. We need to support ourselves, our partners, or families or our pets. What we do with our days can lose meaning and you can fall into a rut of all work and very little play. We wonder if we should leap to follow what we want but loads of fear can overtake us. Then again, the fantasy is “What if we can pursue what we truly love and make a living? Would that make me happy? Would I feel more fulfilled?”
So, can you really combine what you love to do while getting paid to do it?
Yes, but here’s what I have learned.
1) You can have it all, but not all at once. — As a mother of three, I spent much of the first part of my career seeking stability. I needed a good-paying, steady job with health insurance to care for my family. It wasn’t until I hit forty, and the kids were older, that I decided to risk it all and work for a startup and then eventually start my own business. I may not be the norm here. What I learned working for other companies and institutions shaped how I built my skill set and determined what I wanted out of my own business down the line. So yes, I had a family and built my career, but it took time and patience. Even in their twenties, my kids still need time and attention, and I have not mastered the balance of working parenthood, but it’s gotten easier. One thing I am certain of is that your kids need to see you follow your passions, so they understand they can do the same.
2) Believe in yourself or no one else will- If you want to be an entrepreneur, you must be a little delusional. You need to be your own biggest fan. There is no longer a boss offering positive affirmations. It’s you every morning in the mirror giving yourself a high-five, according to Mel Robbins. But it works. I journal as much as I can to somehow weed out my insecurities and reinvigorate my belief that I have the skills and the ability to carve out not only a living for myself but for everyone I employ at my company. A lot of what I do is pitching new business. I believe I can help someone and support their dream every time I go into a pitch. Instead of even thinking about the competition, I look at every pitch as an opportunity to explain, “what we can bring to the table for your project” and if it’s what the client wants, they will hire us. And if we are not the right fit, the right project will come along.
3) Attract-Don’t Chase- When I was very young, I moved around a lot. I was always the new kid, and I was an only child for many years. It was in one new neighborhood, as I sat staring out the window that my father told me, “Just go outside and look like you are having fun, and everyone will want to join you.” So, I did just that. I went out in the front yard and played and moments later, new friends came over to join me. The same is true for work. I post on social media about my work. I write about what I am falling in love with whether it’s a new show or a new way to think about marketing or ticketing. It’s not about selling yourself or listing your accomplishments. It’s about genuinely explaining to whoever will listen who you are and why you are loving what you do. You may not be everyone’s cup of tea. But to the right audience, you can be the best brew they have ever tasted. And beyond the public posting, it’s the simple adage that you do good work for your clients and good word of mouth can spread. Nearly everything I have won is through a referral and I am forever grateful.
4) “Find Moments of Joy”- No job or career is going to make you happy all the time. A friend who just pivoted from marketing to psychology just taught me, “Happiness is fleeting. Find moments of joy”. And every day, no matter how hard it gets, or how stressed I feel, I always take a moment to be grateful to be building my own company and to be my own boss. It can also be when I sit down in a theatre to see a new production or when we nail a presentation or when I watch my team come together and collaborate around an event. It’s when I keep checking ticket sales and see the numbers rise, that I feel most alive. And these moments are not constant. But while success will come and go, failure has no home inside my head. Every day, whenever I make a mistake, I chalk it up to a lesson.
Here’s to following our passions and believing in ourselves. Every day is a new opportunity to be better and do what we truly love.
And a final note, maybe your passion is not a business but a skill. Keep practicing it. As much as I love running my own business, I have always wanted to be a writer. I want to write a book someday which will be a series of essays about life and work. Every Sunday I go to my local coffee shop, and I write. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s rubbish. But I keep trying. Never give up on yourself. You’re worth the effort.
Victoria Cairl is the founder of Table7Strategy- a boutique marketing and sales strategy firm for live entertainment.