Did you do some work you did not feel like doing?

Your Friday Trigger Question #116

Reading time: about 1.4 minutes

A funny thing happened on the way to the modern workplace. People expect to feel motivated to get the work done!

I think this is an unintended consequence of that deceptive hippie battle cry, "do what you love." (1960s counter-culture anyone?) I said "deceptive"? Yes, because it sounds so right, but can play out painfully.

First, only rich people have the luxury of being able to do what they love. Everyone else must work at (almost) anything to pay the bills. Agreed? So get a job, even if you don't love it (yet).

Second, what you love to do rarely aligns with what your boss would love you to do. Which leads to...

Third, no one can motivate you. Not even your boss can motivate you. Motivation is an internal feeling. Only you can motivate yourself. The best your boss can do is to create favorable conditions for your motivation to grow. Or to remove obstacles.

So here's the thing. Most people on planet earth must work at something, even if they don't like it. And at work, it does not matter whether you feel like doing something to get it done. It is just your job. You must do it, like it or not.

There is a silver lining, though. Do it often enough and...

- Maybe one day you will wake up to find that you love what you do because you've become good at it. (Well done. You have grown up.)

Or

- Maybe on some sunny day you will feel rich enough to risk doing what you think you'll love doing more. (Good luck with that.) (I mean it. Because who doesn’t still dream.)

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Your Friday Trigger Question:

Did you do some work you did not feel like doing?

Welcome to my side of the nonsense do-what-you-love divide.

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