I don’t love my work. Do you?

Peter Crocker

Before we get started this week, we are very excited to announce our first ever National Conference, Flying Solo LIVE! It’ll be a fun and valuable day full of learning, connecting and networking in Sydney on Wednesday 17 September and we’d love you to join us.

Full details and the line up of great speakers will be revealed shortly, but we can tell you it’s looking hugely exciting already. Read more here.

Now back to business. The philosophy of “Do what you love!” and “Find your passion.” implies if you’re not bouncing out of bed every day with fire in the belly then you’re in the wrong career. But seriously, are we chasing the impossible dream?

Whether you run your own business or work for someone else, I believe it’s unrealistic to think you can truly ‘love’ your job.

I think it’s helpful to differentiate lovers from likers. Consider the following:

If you had money to spare, would you still do everything on your to-do list? Would you run your business the same way or make major changes? Would you stay in your current job?
Do you hang out for the weekend to finish so you can get cracking on Monday morning?
Do you dread holidays because it’s a week away from work?

You might love drawing, writing, building, selling, coaching, presenting, designing, advising or balancing the books, but being paid to do lots of it dilutes the pleasure, I think.

I don’t mean to get all negative, but perhaps all this talk of loving your work is setting us up for disappointment and expectations that can’t be met.

I’m all for liking your job, enjoying your business or getting great satisfaction out of your career, but true love is just a step too far for me.

My love and passion for business comes from where I’m going, not so much what I’m doing. I love the idea of growing a business and creating a lifestyle I love. I love the freedom, flexibility and family time you can often get from being your own boss.

But it’s the outcomes I love, not so much the activity.

It’s the baby I love, not the birth, as my wife would say.

Can we really expect to love our work? Or are we just in love with where our work can take us? Tell us what you think.

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Until next time.

~~Love~~ Like your work ;)

Peter Crocker is a director of Flying Solo responsible for the areas of marketing and advertising. He is a business copywriter specialising in websites, videos and marketing communications.

62 comments | Add your own 1 2 3 4 5 | Next» View all»

Sorry Peter - but I love the activity. I love my work - I love designing and illustrating and doing something different for each client. Being paid for it enhances the pleasure, not dilutes it. Public holidays are just a day to catch up for me and work in quiet. I love being able to regulate my hours if I choose to do so. I love being able to think of a concept and do it late at night when it comes to me and then sleep in, instead of having to wait to go to an office the next day. After being in the design and print industry for 34 years and solo for 20, I still love my work and cannot imagine not doing it. One of our children reminded us the other day that both myself and my husband love our work (he has a complementary career) and it's an inspiration to them. And we are both content in them. Even on a couple of days off away we mull over ideas and read more on our subjects and enjoy it. We both have an insatiable yearning to learn more. It's part of our natures. Yes, we both love the activities and it's not the destination for us - it's what we actually do that we love. Karen Curran from Springwood
I'm with you Karen. I too love what I do. Okay, sometimes, some aspects make me want to scream and shout (happily I rarely do either within anyone else's earshot), but that has more to do with stretching into unknown territories. Robert Gerrish from Flying Solo | Read my articles
I love what I do too. I have a real passion for it. Sure, there are the odd bits and pieces about it that I might just like, but for the most part its LOVE all the way!
What I do is a big part of my life and as the saying (approximately) goes 'life is a journey, not a destination' and so if you can love your work throughout the journey, think how much better can life be! Annette Piper from Coolah NSW Australia
Well I'm relieved!
I like what I do and like you, I love the outcomes of my business, but I really do LOVE downtime from work spent relaxing with my family. There are plenty of things in my work I don't particularly enjoy but they're part of it and have to be done. I keep hearing that I should be wildly passionate about my business and then I'm thinking there's something wrong with me that I'm not! Ok, I'd rather do this than anything else, it's great work and I'm glad I do it and yes, maybe even if I didn't need to earn a living I'd still do some of it , it's just not the most important thing in my life and it's not what I want to be remembered for.
Is it ok to just be fond of my business? :-) Caitlin from Adelaide, SA
I Love my work !! Hmmm - maybe I need to get a life? Grant Hyman from Sydney | Read my articles
Hi Peter. I think you're wrong, too. I honestly do love my job. "If you had money to spare, would you still do everything on your to-do list?" Absolutley, though when I have money to spare (meaning sufficient funds) I do outsource more if it. "Would you run your business the same way or make major changes?" I would run it exactly the same way. I'm comfortable, casual, successful, and happy. "Would you stay in your current job?" Without hesitation. "Do you hang out for the weekend to finish so you can get cracking on Monday morning?" In my line of work (mainly the direct marketing of PartyLite candles and accessories) there is no need to wait for a weekend to relax or a weekday to work. I work when I want, where I want, and as much or as little as I want. The flexibility of my business is one reason I do love my job. Another is unlimited income opportunity. Another is the low risk - I don't have investments to make other than time. There are so many reasons. It's just all so easy. "Do you dread holidays because it’s a week away from work?" Not on your life. I love my holidays. But that doesn't mean that I don't love my job. Working solo is the way to go. Peter, in my corporate world, I would have agreed with you. But now... I love my job. Wendy Lloyd Curley from Five Dock, NSW

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