4 – You Don’t Need to Love Everything

I’m not passionate about everything that I’m working on.

There, I’ve said it.

One of the most difficult things about becoming super passionate about something is that it can have the opposite effect on other things, including work you used to love.

When I became involved with The Cocksure Lads Movie, I felt like I was “home” – that I should have been working in the film industry all of my life. Everything else I had been working on suddenly paled in comparison to my new true calling. And that threw me for a loop.

It was as if I had opened my eyes for the first time and been exposed to an entirely new bright and shiny world. I felt energized outside of my day job. I had a new lease on life. And I couldn’t get enough of it. I had energy enough for two people. I felt younger, and more capable, motivated, focused, and creative. I also felt appreciated and respected for all of the skills and experience that I brought to my new role. It was amazing.

Credit: misgafasdepasta.com

At my day job, however, I began to feel the opposite. In an instant it seemed less meaningful and fulfilling. I felt less motivated, unsettled, and not fully fexted to outcomes and the future. The emotional contrast was jarring. And I was left in a very uneasy state, because I’ve never invested unless I could fully commit – never been one foot in.

I’ve heard this from others, and it can be a very conflicting, confusing, and uncomfortable place to be. Until it either settles or it doesn’t. 

I think there are only two directions to go when you find yourself in that position, but beore you go either way, you may need to force yourself to get comfortable with the discomfort for a little while.

Why wait it out? There are a few reasons.

First, like many other things in life, it may level out if you give it a little time. It did with me. If you always put your best foot forward and your mantra is to perform such that you’ll be front of mind for opportunities, you may falter a little, but ultimately you can’t help but pull yourself up by the bootstraps and get back to your high performance level. You still may not feel fully passionate about your work, but even if your heart isn’t in it, you’ll likely find that your head is.

Second, unless you have a lot of disposable income, you may want to consider how your day job can give you the freedom and additional income to help build other elements of your multi-path career. My corporate job has provided me with the stability that I need to pursue my other passions. Having a steady income affords you more risks in other pursuits and can also fund those other pursuits. So don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. If you give up that income, it can either generate some positive pressure to make a go of your other pursuits. Or it can have the opposite effect, introducing stress and anxiety that zaps all of your creative energy. Under stress, some of us become Jekyl, others become Hyde. Choose wisely.

Third, there may be skills and experience that you still have an opportunity to build in your day job that can help in other elements of your multi-path career. As I’ve mentioned in a previous blog, the skills that I continue to build at KPMG contribute to every other aspect of my career.

Finally, you may find that there’s a way to integrate other elements of your multi-path career with your day job in a way that will benefit both. Years ago, I worked for a sporting goods company in need of a product catalogue. I pitched my art and photography skills, and created a separate but complementary and non-competing business producing the catalogue.

But I’ll add a caution here. It may not settle, and you may find yourself chronically demotivated in your day job, constantly counting down to the end of the day when you can bolt for what you really want to do. That’s not sustainable. It doesn’t do justice for either you for your employer. And that’s when it’s time to make a change.

Will you now the right choice? Yeah, I think so.

Let’s start to break down your multi-path career, focusing on my career coach Dev’s advice – “Do what you need so that you can do what you want until you can do what you were meant to do.”

• What do you need to do? I call that the potboiler job. For me, that’s my corporate gig.

• What do you want to do? For me, those are my special interest jobs – Connectiv Innovation, Crazy D’s and Lonny’s Smile. These roles produce surprising moments or nuggets of experience and learning and development that buid versatility and competence.

• What were you meant to do? That’s your dream job. For me, it’s this blog and all that I imagine it becoming in terms of giving back and pulling all of my experience and skills together to help others and create something that’s my very own.

Still have some blanks to fill out? No worries. We’ll tackle that in the next four blogs … and beyond, if by the end of it you’re still not there.