Loving what you do: a dream too far?
Last week I was holidaying in the Outer Hebrides on a tiny island which I can honestly say is one of the most beautiful spots on this planet that I have ever visited. And I have travelled a fair amount and seen a fair few spots. This spot is very speciai to me indeed. Anyway, I spent my time beach wandering, shell hunting, wave watching and occasionally doing some work, partly because I had a lot to do, but more because I love what I do so it does not really feel like a chore or an imposition. There weren’t too many folk around; it was low season after all (who would be mad enough to go to the Western Isles in November?). However, there was one chap I met who merits a mention. His name was Jon and he was a mason, the man that builds and maintains the memorials for the islands’ dead, going from cemetery to cemetery erecting special stones for people who have died and whose life those that remain want to mark and remember. We got chatting in the car park as I came up from a beach wander one evening and he was descending from one of the many extraordinary resting places that exist on the island for those who have died. There was something lovely about him; a man with a smile as wide as he was tall, grey hair tied back, a twinkle in his eye and a heart warming energy of friendliness, vitality and openheartedness. He told me how he was “born and bred” on the island but had left when he was 16. He told me he had been doing that same job for 50 years and that it was “the best job in the world”. He gets to travel all over Northern Scotland and across the islands, in the outdoors, in exquisite places, doing something purposeful, parking up in his camper van, chatting to random passers by like me. Well, he didn’t actually say that. He didn’t explain why or how it was the best job on earth but every bit of his being radiated contentment.
Our conversation got me thinking about the importance of loving what you do. It is hugely important for me and I have worked hard to create a working life that I love; one that is purposeful and fulfilling and that genuinely doesn’t feel like “work”. But I know that this aspiration or even assumption of mine, that we should all strive to do something we love, is not for everyone. A couple of months ago, I was running a development programme for a small group of folk in a client organisation. I was asking them what proportion of the time they were at their best at work. I was saddened to hear the answer to my question which indicated that many were not at their best for much of the time. However, their reflection on this was a huge surprise for me and a humbling realisation. For them, work was just work. It was a means to the end of providing for their family. It was not a place where they sought purpose or fulfilment or any such experience. It was yet another moment when my own assumptions and beliefs were challenged in the work that I do and I saw a radically different perspective to my own.
My own view is that finding passion, purpose, a sense of direction, possibly community and yes, even fulfilment at work is so important and achievable. We spend so much time there, for a start. But also, why not strive for greatness, no matter what that looks like?
People often come to me seeking “career coaching”. They are stuck or unhappy and unfulfilled in their work. Often they have been doing something for many years without a huge amount of thought having steered them in the direction in which they now find themselves. And they long for something different, something “better”. Of course it is true that one’s working life is not everything, but speaking from my own experience, and meeting Jon the Islands’ Memorials Man, I still believe it is a bridge to better wellbeing and contentment. It is also surely better for the quality of what we produce and for the people who benefit from the work we do.
