If it makes you happy (and money) do it
August 10th, 2012 by Agent Kevin Miller
The focus of Free Agent Academy is to help people discover their unique purpose and to fully apply it to their lives. As we all must work to sustain ourselves, and we put a large portion of our time into our work, the core intent of FAA is to get you working at something that fully engages your purpose. Whether traditional employment or our favorite vehicle for fully living out your purpose, self-employment.
But folks often get stalled in looking for that perfect thing. That one, ultimate opportunity and endeavor. I’m not against that, but…
I know pastors, missionaries, ministers, coaches, doctors and such who…well…suck. They aren’t that good at what they do, it doesn’t fit them and they don’t do it well, and at the end of the day I don’t see that they are positively helping anyone. Good intent, bad execution.
Then I know others who are involved in selling all kinds of products and services, and when you break them down…they aren’t that worthwhile in and of themselves. Meaning, the product or service just doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of life. I spent a while helping market and sell bicycle products. No offense, but who cares? When I compare it to a friend who is a doctor and spends his day saving lives, I feel a little less-than.
Now, there IS room to judge what we are spending our days devoted to, and if it’s something which doesn’t provide a positive benefit to humanity, I for one am hardly capable of giving my devotion to it. Sure, if it feeds my family it has some merit…but best to find something to feed my family AND has value to the world.
However, I’ve witnessed that what serves the world best…is YOU. Who and how YOU are. Let me explain:
Let’s say Bob is a dentist. Great, honorable job right? He spends his days fixing broken or rotted teeth, straightening them, etc. Helping people in significant ways. But, Bob hates it. He hates being inside an office all day. He hates the fear in kid’s eyes and the whining. He hates bad breath. He hates managing his assistants. If this is the case, it is not humanly possible for him to be inspiring and influencing to his family or others. Sure, he might try to smile and put on a game face, but when he’s in an ill fitting situation most of the day, he’ll never succeed longterm in exuding joy.
And when it comes down to it, true joy emanating out of us is the only thing which gives us life and allows us to give life to others.A
What if Bob loves frisbees? Seriously. He loves throwing frisbees. When doing so with his wife and kids and friends, he just lights up. He loves the outdoors, the exercise, the hand-eye coordination…all of it. He loves throwing to his dog and seeing people smile when the dog launches into the air, twisting and turning to catch it. He could spend all day on a field playing frisbee golf with friends. If he developed a new frisbee and sold it, all of the sudden he goes from:
- Dentist – repairing teeth
- Frisbees – selling a rubber/plastic ring
At face value it seems lame in comparison, doesn’t it? But again, what’s the point? In selling frisbees and participating in the lifestyle, Bob is now a jubilant guy. He smiles all the time. He throws his kids in the air. He loses 30 lbs that he gained while depressed in his dental office. His wife feels as if some inspired, more handsome and caring and loving guy just replaced her grumpy husband. Bob now talks excitedly at social gatherings, where before he wouldn’t even go.
He’s inspired! Full of life! Having a radiant impact in the world!
This then begs the question…does it really matter WHAT you do? Or just who you are as a result of doing it?
And again, I strongly urge you to consider and question yourself here. If you are doing something that you don’t enjoy, don’t feel super skilled at and aren’t inspired in…watch out for just thinking you can change your attitude and keep at it. Your fingerprint is different from anyone elses. So are your skills and abilities and adeptnesses.
Most of our culture is in jobs that are not the best fit for them, because they don’t know themselves enough to KNOW…what fits them. So they are ducks in jobs that are full of running. A duck will NEVER be ultimately joyful when it has to spend most of it’s day running. It’s just a fact.
Figure out who you are and what is a fit for you, and go do it. Please. Only then can you be HOW you must be. Cause in the meantime, your family and friends and the rest of us are missing out on the fullness of what you have to offer us.
NOTE: Does this feel narcissistic? Justifying ‘fun’ instead of responsibility? In any endeavor, there will be hard work. In my analogy above, Bob would have to deal with manufacturing, sales, book keeping, product returns…lots of ‘unfun’ stuff. The end result is the point. Find work doing what you do well and producing something that has value in your soul.
If you’d rather hear the show where I expanded on this topic:
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