3 Steps to Doing the Work You Love and Loving the Work You Do

I have discovered that many book authors hate marketing books. That’s too bad, because it can be the most fulfilling part of the job — that interacting with potential customers, with people whose lives you can change, with readers who will respond in the most interesting ways.

Today I’m reprinting a guest blog post from Leo Babauta of ZenHabits.net (http://zenhabits.net/ticktock) on how to find the work you love – and how to love the work you do.

Love the Work You Do

When I wake up in the morning, I can’t wait to start writing.

It’s not that I’m productivity-driven or a workaholic. It’s that I love what I do.

And I’ll tell you a secret to loving what I do: If I think my work will help someone, there’s no better motivator.

I see lots of people, every day, who don’t like the work they’re doing. If I could help a few of them find work they love, it would make my year.

So this is a mini-guide to finding the work you love. Because it’s waiting for you — you just need to find it and go get it.

Step 1: Believe in yourself. The main reason people don’t try to do work they love, don’t even look for it, is because they don’t think they’re good enough. That’s hogwash. We’ve been bamboozled and hornswoggled into believing we are insufficient, that it’s scary to fail, when neither is remotely true.

You are not only sufficient, you are perfect. And failure is inevitable, but it’s how you succeed. Failure is how we learn to get better. It’s a step towards success.

I highly recommend you watch this TEDx talk from Scott Dinsmore for some inspiration. It’s the best 18 minutes you could invest in your life right now.

Step 2: Find the work you love. This is probably the most difficult step for many people, because they don’t know what they want to do.

Actually, this step is the fun part. You get to try different things. Fail often. Explore yourself. Learn about what you’re good at. Help people.

Step 3: Take the leap. It’s the scariest, most exciting thing ever to take the leap and do work you love. I call it JoyFear. It’s totally worth it.

Making a living doing what you want isn’t exactly easy, but it’s not as hard as you might think. Create something that will help people. Do it the best you can, and keep getting better. Make it uniquely you, and tell your story. Don’t be a marketer or push yourself on people, but really help them and they’ll come to you.

What are you waiting for? I’ve given you three steps, so you should be taking the first step already. If not, get moving!

The work you love is out there. Waiting for you. But it won’t find you — you have to go looking for it.

About John Kremer

John Kremer is author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books, the Relationships Matter Marketing program, and many other books and reports on book marketing, Internet marketing, social media, and book publicity. -- .

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