Do what you love, and you'll never work another day in your life

[bornninthe80s]

Does this phrase resonate with you? What do you do (for a job) if you completely agree with this statement - and what makes you love it so much?

Why? Your OP makes you sound a little like a journalist.

In my experience, do a job you love and you'll think nothing of working yourself into the ground doing 70+ hour weeks, never taking holidays, for crap pay and a temporary contract. Best decision I ever made was jacking in my "dream job" and taking something that's just fine...I do 8-4 five days a week, leave my phone turned off at the weekends, and get paid £10k a year more. Choose mediocrity

It used to. I was a mental health worker and never felt like I was at work. It was like being part of a large dysfunctional family. Much like being part of my actual family

Then we got new management, lots of my lovely colleagues left and it wasn't the same. The new staff (all slim, big boobed, dressed like they were on the pull not on a mh ward - clearly the manager had a type) treated the old staff like shit and got away with it. So i left.

People say this to justify paying people a pittance, or just not paying freelancers at all.

It sounds perfect in theory for people like landscape gardeners, brain surgeons and nail bar technicians.
Most people need to get qualified in general skills that can be applied to a job that they wouldn't ordinarily choose, and end up in a job that isn't their ideal.
I don't believe that anyone, working for the city council, would have yearned to work there.

I love what I do.

But it's still work. I still have to go in on days where I would rather stay in bed. But usually those days end better than they began. There are still some aspects that are related to my work that I don't really enjoy, but have to be done.

I can't think of any job that is all good stuff and no work.

@rainydaysfordays

In my experience, do a job you love and you'll think nothing of working yourself into the ground doing 70+ hour weeks, never taking holidays, for crap pay and a temporary contract. Best decision I ever made was jacking in my "dream job" and taking something that's just fine...I do 8-4 five days a week, leave my phone turned off at the weekends, and get paid £10k a year more. Choose mediocrity

I do agree with this though! I used to do so much overtime. Always stayed late if I was needed. Switched from day to night without complaint. I was totally exhausted.

In my experience there is no job that just allows me to do what I love. They all involve administration, finance, management, etc. I have a job that allows me to do what I love about 40% of the time and pays me reasonably well. That's enough.

used to the true for me...but then you do it for two decades or so and it all becomes a bit samey....totally ready for a change but no currently idea what.trouble with really going for it is that I dont have many transferable skills for anything other than my current jon

job

I don't think I'd get paid very much to go on holiday every week, scoff ice cream, drink lots and sit on my arse for most of the day.

I love sitting on my arse and drinking frothy coffee but I've never found someone to pay me for doing it yet.

It's called work for a reason.

In my experience getting paid for doing what you love removes the choice and enjoyment from the activity. I love horses but would never work with them again. Hard work for little money, the antithesis of horse-riding/ownership in fact.

Now, choosing a career that works with your strengths, that's the way to success. In short, pick something that you're good at and see which job fits your talents.

I enjoy what I do, but that doesn’t stop it being work. That phrase is horseshit.

I’m self employed working with horses and I truly do adore my job - I look forward to going to work every day! Sometimes when the rain is lashing down and it’s blowing a gale I wonder for a few seconds why I do it...and then I think about the prospect of being stuck in an office with people I can’t stand and don’t want to speak to - and I head out into the rain smiling 😀😀

Job satisfaction is pretty highly heritable. Chances are if you hate being a fire fighter, you will hate being a nail technician.

I do what I love, then I got bogged down being a boss of a company in the industry I loved, I'm now looking for a new career.

I think it's possible to live that saying but maybe only short term.

Teaching used to be like this and can still be in the right school.
I assume acting (TV / theatre) is the same? They're similar professions, only teachers have to contend with a hostile audience!

Millennial teachers (arseholes) / millennial management and millennial competitive long hours (6.30am to 7pm anyone?!!) are problems but the more they leave (they leave a lot) the more I'm rising above it. I do 8am to 3.30 /4pm and not sacked yet 😂. (But I do get 90%+ pass rates and love teaching.)

I think the following jobs have pretty great job satisfaction:
Electrician
Builder
Working with horses
Plasterer. (Blooming £300 a day! £6000 a month!! And very satisfying to do. )
Teacher in a school they like, with kids they can teach, and nice management.
Actor with steady work
Carpenter / product design with steady work
Designers and architects
Scientific discovery / archeology
Librarian if you like quiet solitude...

A lot of these jobs are male heavy. And disproportionately well paid. I do wonder why!

I love what I do and get paid well for it, but if I didn't need the money, I wouldn't continue to do the job

I wish I could love what I did more. My job is fine. Elements of it are really interesting but it’s certainly not a dream job. What I do like is the money I earn. I grew up in a low income household where money was endlessly worried about and I was determined that this would not be my future. Financial freedom and the ability to fund a life I do love outside of work are the most important reasons to work for me.
If I had a financial windfall then maybe I would move to Spain to run a beautiful rural hotel/yoga retreat/Galgo rescue and live the dream - but that would probably not involve much actual work as I’d pay others to do most of it!

I really enjoy my work as a lecturer, but like others have said, it is work and I have frustrating days or periods where I don't achieve much. Students can be fab or really annoying. I think just loving something is a bit simplistic.

I think there's a perception that things like acting are that kind of job, but I don't think it's entirely true.

For some, it involves lots of auditioning and temp jobs.
For successful movie actors it involves travelling for promotional gigs, and being away from home for long stints, as well as long hours in make up and waiting around on set
For successful theatre actors it can involve doing exactly the same thing every evening for months, and sometimes away from home on tours
For soap actors there are long days

And that's not including the issues that come with fame, if they get to that stage.

I'm not sure there is any job that doesn't have a downside and elements that feel very much like work.

Thanks for replies everyone. I'm definitely not a journalist

I've recently left the rat race where I was paid well but utterly miserable and ashamed to tell people what I did. Been volunteering for a charity for a few months and every time I'm online helping I feel like I come alive, and probably sticking some whopping big rose-times glasses on here but I'm so excited about moving into employment with them (an opportunity has presented itself).

It's made me realise how freeing it is to be out of my last job, which never made me feel like I was making a difference. And how much I love volunteering has made me wonder who out there really loves what they do (which should probably have been my original question!).

I dont think this can be true forever, even the dream job is a job. I worked my "dream job" for a few years, and it was amazing. I loved what I did, I loved that people would say "wow, what's that like?" when I told them and I was genuinely excited about my work. But I did not love the embarassingly low pay, the weird hours and there were still plenty of emails/meetings/tetchy collegues/work stuff. I did not have the emotional energy for another year of it, so I picked a less dreamy, better paid job in the same charitable sector. I dont love the job as much but I love having the time, emotional energy and money to enjoy life outside of my job.