A Case for Pursuing What You Enjoy
Why do some people progress through their careers significantly faster than others?
How do some people start businesses and become leaders in their fields, whilst others merely compete?
Why do you do What You Do?
If you think about it, you’ll find you are the most competent at the activities you enjoy.
Besides, why would you do something if you don’t enjoy it?
Societal norms impose “rules” on us to do what we have to, need to or must do.
If you look closely, do the outliers follow the same societal rules as everyone else?
We are Natural Competitors
We all have a natural competitive nature within us.
Whether it’s competing against yourself or other people, we naturally want to improve and get better at the things we do.
What do some do differently from the millions of others on similar journeys with similar intentions?
You Can’t Compete with Someone Who is Having Fun
We find ourselves competing in the rat race of life, comparing ourselves to others and doing what we “should” be doing.
The issue is, it is not an Apples to Apples comparison.
If you are doing what you “should” and compare yourself to someone doing what they “choose”, it is a zero-sum game, and you will inevitably lose.
How long will you survive competing in a game you aren’t passionate about?
A Long-Term Game is a Game Worth Playing
Life is a marathon, not a sprint.
Become conscious of the game you are playing, why you are playing, and who you’re playing against.
Once clear, you can continue playing or pivot into a new direction.
The goal is to find something you can do that feels like play, but looks like work to others.
What’s the Answer?
I purposely didn’t precisely answer my opening questions because many other variables come into play, and this article's intent is to spark some thought not to conduct an in-depth multivariate analysis of high performers.
Now to conclude...
If you are driven to do well, you will inevitably have to compete against other people/enterprises to get to where you want to be.
What I have observed is those at the top of their game, are merely playing a game.
A game they chose to play.
A game they enjoy to play.
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