Last month I had the chance to speak at a great Jostens Leadership Conference near Seattle, Washington. Just after lunch, the conference planners invited me and the other speaker up on stage to respond to some questions. They placed a few numbers on the jumbotron and encouraged the students to text questions up us. We replied to as many as we could in 15 minutes, but then had to call the activity to an end, so that students could catch their buses back to their campuses.
After the event, I started talking with one of the event planners about the questions and he sent over a list of many of the questions he received (he had over 200 texts in 15 minutes). Over the next few weeks, I invite you to email me (pm@pmaurer.com) with more questions you might have. This initial list includes questions involving leadership, apathy, long-term decision making, etc. Again, I’ll address many of these in these blog entries and encourage you to add more to the list. Today’s is a simple one. I’ll get into heavier ones tomorrow.
Think of it as formspring, but without all the anonymous hate messaging : )
Question: Is it more important to do something you really want to do, or do something that your are good at and can be successful doing?
Response: I always believe that you need to have passion for what you do. You need to enjoy your work. You need to enjoy your life. We spend far too much time at our jobs, and I’m a strong believer that you should find joy in that work. At the same time, there will be moments where success and/or employment can outweigh that outright joy for a certain period of time. I know that my dad has at times stayed in a job longer than he necessarily wanted to in order to provide an opportunity for our family. He was good at that job, he was successful at that job, but he wasn’t overly happy with it. Years later, he had a better position at a different company and that joy for his work carried into other aspects of his life and our life as a family.
This question is easier to answer when you know what you value and where you place your priorities. I’ve been engaged for only a few months, and I can already see a shift in a few of my priorities. I LOVE speaking and I LOVE presenting workshops, but now I double-check a bit more than I used to about workshop times and flight times. I want to help out my clients as much as a I can, but at the same time, I want to make sure I can catch a good flight home, so I can spend time with my fiancé.
So the question will always be a bit of a toss up. No job will ever have 100% happiness. I don’t love every single day of my job or every single aspect of my job (I’m not a fan of invoicing and bill collection), BUT I do love my job. I may not be the richest guy out there. For me, I’m okay with a lifetime of making a little bit less as a professional speaker and loving each day of work, rather than going to work at a big company where I could make a higher income. I know that loving my work helps fuel my relationships.