[...] and others feel that some of it needs to be like work. That’s what I examined in this post, Work as Play? I keep changing my mind on that one but that’s not what I want to address in this post. Or do [...]

Ricardo Semler (author of ‘Maverick’) sums it up well with this quote:

Tom, thanks for the very kind words. Here is the link to my article on Compass Driven Strategic Planning:

Steve, thank you for your insightful comment. Will you please respond to this comment with a link to the article you referenced? I looked around on your website and couldn’t find it.

Hi Tom,

Bill, I laughed out loud when you said that many of the things you thought you wanted, you really don’t. I’ve had the same experience, repeatedly. Like you, I love variety and I’m not fresh without many different paths to follow. I have to be self-employed. How else could I possibly make so many mistakes and still be smiling?

Tom, I am always uplighted just by seeing that smile on Hines Ward’s face, even when the play was a flop. As I observe myself and others in working in ways that bring joy, I notice that a person’s natural gifts lead them to “tinker” at certain things for hours without minding. Some people tinker with music, others with comedy. I tinker with words, whether I’m getting paid for it or not. Most of us don’t have the freedom to separate work from pay, but many of us can choose work that caters to this “tinker factor.” I know I’m most fulfilled when I do this.

Well, THIS has me thinking. At one point I needed to earn a hearty six-figure salary in order to keep my head above water. Then I bought an old car, moved into an inexpensive apartment, and cut many expenses so that I could focus on doing what I wanted (not what I had) to do. I struggled for the first couple of years and incurred debt. But finally things clicked and now I only do the kind of work I like to do (and it is very varied, which is one thing I love). Does that mean I love what I’m doing most of the time? No. No matter what you’re doing, there is going to be time when it’s drudgery. Dayelle, you say you love to write, but there must be times when the writing or editing is just not fun, but you know you have to do it. The main thing is to not show up every day for a job that you don’t enjoy doing, working with or for people you don’t appreciate, to make money for an organization you don’t care about. The funny thing for me is that MOST of the things I thought I wanted to do, I DON’T! I thought I wanted to be a big time manager with a big staff - but I really don’t like most of the hassles of managing people. I thought I’d want to be a stand-up comic, but I really don’t like telling the same jokes over and over, and I get very stressed out before and during a performance. Etc., etc. My career is a little like a rolling stone; if I don’t keep finding new things to do, eventually I resent doing the same thing over and over. Luckily, having faith, as Dayelle mentions, was something I didn’t give up on (although it was close). {I also have to say that Deah Schwartz was my first (5th grade) girlfriend, and the only girl I ever went steady with and today she looks remarkably like Dayelle - so that’s weird. (They are not the same person.)} I think the trick is to combine a healthy dose of doing the kind of work you enjoy, with people you like, ideally for a cause or organization you really care about (or for yourself). If I didn’t have that, I’d be working with Tom or someone like him to get myself there.

Adam, what a wonderful thought. Deliberately unhooking the work we love to do from our economic engine. That really is having it all, isn’t it? Just doing it because we flat out love to do it.

I agree Adam, that being able to do what you love, in and of itself is the best. My writing rarely feels like work except when I’m having to deal with agents or editors who are annoying. Otherwise, it’s pleasure. My laptop has accompanied me across Europe and the US.