Be Passionate About Whatever You Do

October 8, 2009 2:47 pm

Braun Mincher

Braun Mincher is the author of “The Secrets of Money: A Guide for Everyone on Practical Financial Literacy”. This blog entry is from Chapter 10 of his book, Your Keys to Financial Success and the 9th of 20 entries on this subject. For more on Braun click here.

Life is a blank slate. Within reason, you can choose to do literally anything at all that you want. Sure, perhaps you’d love to be an NFL quarterback and that’s probably not going to happen, but maybe you’ve got the skills to be a sportswriter or an athletic trainer. The point is, we’ve come a long way as a civilization from where people used to be born into an occupation that they could not avoid or rise above. So why the heck are there still so many people in this country who hate their jobs?

One reason, I believe, is that some people are told, “There’s a lot of money to be made in this field.” Now, I don’t deny, that’s a great business tip. But maybe some of those suggestions make for a better investment tip. Plumbers make a nice living, but not many people really want to fix toilets all day long. Doctors have always earned a nice living, but not everyone is cut out for blood and guts and death and disease on top of twelve years for school.

I’ve said throughout this book that wealth can be created by people in fields where they may not necessarily make a huge wage. Teachers, policemen, firemen, travel agents—these are not the fields people go into for the money. But people in those fields, and others who manage their money well, can still live a comfortable life.

But what about happiness? I’m not going to try to tackle the age old question, “Does money buy happiness?” I say that the answer is that financial security helps buy happiness. But your career should be your career—something of your own choosing that makes you want to get up in the morning.

If you are doing it solely for the money, then no, you will probably not be a happy camper in the long run. The world is full of miserable doctors, lawyers, and engineers. Sure, they might make a great wage, but some of them feel no passion for or take joy in what they do.

Mercenaries—they’re never to be trusted. A customer who only buys from you because you are a few pennies cheaper than the guy down the street will leave you the moment a guy farther down the street under-prices you. You can’t build a business on that kind of customer. The same goes for workers. If you hire bus drivers and you get an applicant who says, “Yeah, I heard you pay $14 an hour. The place I’m at now only pays $13,” that guy will leave you the moment a competitor offers him $15. And, frankly, he’s said nothing to lead you to believe he even likes driving a bus.

On the other hand, there are people who truly enjoy driving for a living—bus drivers, truck drivers, what have you. There are actually lots of occupations out there where you get behind the wheel and just drive. Some people love it. If I’m hiring drivers, that’s the applicant I want. And yes, they do exist, in most every field. Think about it. Think of the nastiest, crappiest job that you would never want to do. I’ll bet you’ve dealt with people who do that job with a big, sincere smile on their face, as well as some who look as miserable as can be. It’s all a matter of perspective. It’s a big ol’ world out there, and we’re all a little different.

Your job will consume about half of your life. These days we spend on earth are precious. “Quality of life” is not just something to talk about when facing nursing home or hospice care. It’s every day we’re alive.

Sometimes it’s the field we are in. Maybe you were forced into it somehow; maybe you took that tip about it being lucrative. But if you find it just isn’t the right fit, take your head out of the sand, look around, and see what else would make you happier. I’ll guarantee you, the happy dentist makes more money than the unhappy dentist. So how good a situation have you put yourself in, then, anyhow?

Some people take longer than others to mature. They goof off through high school, drop out of college, end up working in fast food, and are incredibly unhappy. But this is not where your story has to end. Maybe at age twenty-five you wake up and you realize that you have enough brain power and ambition to do better. So do it! You’re not getting any younger. Think about what you really want to do in life, and then figure out a path to get yourself there. Okay, so maybe at twenty-five you don’t have mom and dad anymore to pay your bills, but still, there are ways. Maybe you want to be that sports writer we talked about. Keep working at the burger joint while you take some writing and journalism classes at the local community college. It’s not that expensive, and it’s a great investment in yourself. Get on the school newspaper there. See if the Career Services office can hook you up with an internship with a local paper or radio station. Pretty soon, you might be able to ask your manager at work to reduce you to part-time because this writing thing is beginning to take off for you. Keep at it, keep your passion flowing, and within a few years you might be working for Sports Illustrated. Stranger things have happened.

Then there’s the person who hates his boss. Honestly, I can’t fathom this one. If a work environment is toxic, then go elsewhere. You’re not an indentured slave. People change jobs all the time these days. But if you like your job, you like your firm, then show some loyalty. A lot of twenty and thirty-somethings today just jump from job to job every year or so, for wages alone. Again, this is mercenary. If you truly feel you are stuck in a situation where you cannot move ahead and another company values you more, then you have to do what you have to do. But I think some young people today are overdoing it.

Life is short. Time is precious. Don’t waste it being miserable. If you have to work anyway, do something that makes you happy at a place that makes you happy. And if you want to be successful at it, be more than happy—be passionate. Passion is what makes you not only want to go to work, but to be the best at what it is that you do.

Listen to Braun speak on Financial Literacy.

Braun Mincher with Neil Cavuto on Fox Business News

Braun Mincher talking about Financial Literacy on Fox Business

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