Are you doing what you love in your life?
Like really what you love.
Your job. The way you spend your time. The people you hang around. Even the obligations and commitments you have?
Unfortunately, according to a Gallup poll a couple years ago found that 70% of Americans either hate their jobs or are completely disengaged.
(That makes for kind of a depressing Monday, don’t you think?)
Now, your job is not the only thing that defines your happiness or your contentment in your life, but if you think about out of the 24 hours of your day, if 8 of those are devoted to sleep (more or less), and 8 of those are devoted to your job or work, and 8 of those are devoted to everything else (activities, commuting, getting ready for the day, cleaning, socializing, reading, etc.), than your chunk of time at work is a pretty big chunk of your days.
Ever heard the saying, “If you do what you love, then you really never work a day in your life?”
I believe that wholeheartedly!
Right along those same lines, one of the mottos I hold dear to is: “Do what you love, love what you do.”
I know when I am not in check with this mantra, I do not feel complete.
Granted we ALL have things in our lives (especially our adult lives) that we do because… “We have to”; Or for “Financial security reasons”; Or because we “feel obligated.”
However, if and when you’ve ever connected truly to listening to your passions and pouring your energy, time and focus to the things that make your heart tick, life is just way more fun!
The primary reason “Do what you love, love what you do” is my motto is because for 14 years, I did EVERYTHING but that.
Day in and day out, living in eating disorder hell, I was slave to whatever that voice in my head, and my habits and my ways told me to do.
Disconnected with any sense of what it is that I, Lauryn, loved to do, or what I was good at and passionate about, I instead lived my day in and day out, in bondage to whatever I ‘had to do’ out of my eating disorder’s mandates (i.e. StairMaster for 3 hours, denying myself hunger, eating 0-carbs at any time, etc.)—settling for the fact that ‘I guess this is my life; This is how it’s going to be.’
No. No. No.
Whether you are in a job you hate; can’t land your dream job at all; you’re stuck in bondage to a similar addiction or struggle; are tired of that ‘thorn in your flesh’—that goal you want so badly but have yet to achieve; dream big dreams—but have NO idea how to accomplish them; and more…this post is for you.
Do what you love, love what you do.
In other words: live your passion.
This past week, I had the pleasure of connecting with the lovely Melissa Joulwan, author of the popular “Well Fed” Cookbooks and “Living Paleo for Dummies”, and hit blogger of “The Clothes Make the Girl” (now: http://home/laurynlax/public_html.meljoulwan.com) in which she shares tons of inspiring recipes, witty sarcasm, and insights on living your life to the fullest (doing what you love, and loving what you do).
I originally met Mel back in 2007/2008—we were in the same outdoor bootcamp at CrossFit Central.
Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, we’d show up to a parking garage in downtown Austin, makeup-less, sleep in our eyes, and ready to get our butts kicked in 45-minutes, to go about the rest of our days.
We were both fairly new to CrossFit—and both had yet for our ‘transformation’—so to speak, that REAL FOOD and functional fitness would add to our lives…but we worked hard…and seven years later, we are both not only healthier ourselves—but have made it our vision to share health, wellness and fun with others in our lives as our profession (a la pay it forward?).
Mel is a PRIME example of a woman thriving in her own life; a living testimony of a girl who left behind her old ways of ‘just going through the motions’ in order to do the things she loves and love what she does.
Sure you will have your ‘going through the motion’ kind of days, but on balance, when you tap into your God given passions, talents, skills and dreams—big things happen girl, big things.
Here Melissa shares her insights on how she went from “just settling” for ho-hum living, to really living—leaving behind a job and way of life that she settled—and her process to becoming an entrepreneur and blogging success—ultimately doing what she loves.
Q. Prior to working for yourself (blogging)…what was life like as far as ‘thriving’ goes? What were you feeling about yourself…What did you long for? What was your heart’s desires?
Melissa: I was not thriving when I worked in the corporate world. I spent about 20 years working in marketing and web development as a Creative Director and Copywriter. I primarily worked for large interactive agencies with clients like Southwest Airlines, Macy’s, Papa John’s Pizza (!), Mary Kay Cosmetics, and Home Depot. But I always wanted to be doing “real” writing: to write about subjects that I really cared about. And since I was in my twenties, I wanted to work for myself, rather than a large corporation.
I felt stifled creatively and very restricted by the realities of my daily schedule. I longed for the ability to workout every day without being dogged by the clock. I craved an outlet for creative writing that meant something to me and the people reading it. I needed to have less stress and more joy. Running our own business comes with its own stressors and challenges, but they’re hurdles that we (mostly) control and know how to overcome.
Q. How did your blog come about then? Tell us the humble beginnings!
Melissa: I was working at my corporate job and started a blogspot blog in 2008, just to amuse myself. I thought it was going to be a fashion blog, because I love to read them, but eventually my CrossFit workouts and paleo recipes became the subjects I was most excited about covering in my posts. At the time, there were, like, a dozen people reading it: my mom, my husband, a few co-workers, the women in my CrossFit class.
Then a year or so later, things started to take off—it began when my husband Dave and I put together a Zombie Attack Preparedness Workout (ZAP). It’s a real workout that started as a lark. We recruited our friends to dress up as zombies and zombie hunters, then we took photos to illustrate the workout and shared it on my blog. It was picked up by Mark’s Daily Apple and CrossFit NYC. I was thrilled — and that started the gradual increase of my audience. I’m still grateful to those two blogs for the boost they gave me.
Q. What top 3 things do you know now that you wish you knew THEN, since leaving behind the known world of corporate, 9-5 job and doing your own thing that you love to do?
1. See myself differently. It’s important to think of myself as a small business owner, rather than a freelancer. It seems like a small distinction, but it helps me take work-related issues more seriously. To me, if I’m a freelancer, it’s like I’m just going paycheck to paycheck and someone else is in control of my destiny. As a small business owner, the responsibility lies with me. That feels more deliberate to me.
2. Make a real budget. Dave and I had to dig into the ugly reality of our finances to look at what it would take for us to survive, then we looked at a step up from that: what would it take for us to live comfortably? And then the next step: what would it take for us to live the life we really want?
Previously, the budget we stuck to was the subsistence budget, which was really stressful. But deliberately building in squish room for things like vacation, sick time, etc., we were able to plan our finances better and build in discretionary income.
3. Comparison is the killer of joy. I make a conscious effort to not compare myself to other people — both in general life stuff and in the paleo world.
Our lifestyle is very different from the norm of people our age. I’m 47, my husband is 50, we don’t have kids, we don’t have a 9-to-5 jobs, we rent our house. We have one car and it’s pretty old. We made a conscious decision not to grow our business too much because if it grows more, we have to work more.
All of that is really swimming against the current of how success is most often defined.
And it’s imperative that I avoid comparing myself to other paleo authors and bloggers. The more I do things that are “like me,” the better off I am: happier, more successful, more motivated.
Q. Any advice for others on starting something or jumping in to what they love to do?
Melissa: In the beginning, it can be really tempting to say yes to every offer and idea. It’s most important to say yes to the RIGHT opportunities, and turn down anything that takes your energy, doesn’t fit with your personal integrity or goals, or doesn’t inspire you to say “Hell, yes!” Define the criteria against which you’ll measure possibilities and evaluate everything before you commit.
Q. What does thriving in life mean or look like to you today?
Melissa: Thriving is being excited to get up in the morning and tackle the day — and feeling peaceful when it’s time to go to bed at night, knowing that in between you were able to be the best version of yourself (or as close as you could get that day). I think it’s important to relish what you do: love with your whole heart, tackle projects with focused energy, laugh a lot, and when life knocks you down, have the grit and optimism to get back up and keep trying.
Final Thoughts…
You may not be called to be a blogger, a writer, entrepreneur, cook or business owner. But I guarantee you were called (given unique talents, dreams, abilities, and passions) to do something you love.
This is a God-given mission. Live it.