Work
February 23, 2015Paul Graham wrote this great piece about “What Doesn’t Seem Like Work“. I don’t believe that you can ever get the best you could be in something if you don’t like it. Of course we can all learn pretty much anything. But if it isn’t the thing you’re truly passionate about, the outcome won’t be as good as it could be. Maybe it will be mediocre, ok-ish, maybe even good. But certainly not the best it could be.
If something that seems like work to other people doesn’t seem like work to you, that’s something you’re well suited for. For example, a lot of programmers I know, including me, actually like debugging. It’s not something people tend to volunteer; one likes it the way one likes popping zits. But you may have to like debugging to like programming, considering the degree to which programming consists of it.
I cannot believe how many people are choosing to work in positions they don’t like. We all tend to think that we don’t have much of a choice. But that’s only true for a handful of people. Most of us have a choice to do whatever we want. So start looking for the thing that doesn’t seem like work today and keep pushing in that direction.