Follow These 7 Steps to Turn Whatever You Love into Work You Love

If you’re like most people, work is the last thing you want to do in your free time.

There’s a reason why no one complains about how long their vacation was.

Those moments away from it all are amazing, but what if you had work you didn’t want to take a break from?

What if the path you chose was so fulfilling that you could wake up early just to get back at it?

As human beings, we all have a drive inside us to be productive and add to society. We’d still be in mud huts if we didn’t.

So how can you take advantage of this drive and find work you love to do?

I’ll show you.

Over the course of my life, I’ve fallen in love with numerous activities related to sports, videogames, media production, philosophy, engineering, reading, and writing. All done with varying levels of success.

But one thing I’ve noticed is that all of these activities followed a similar process to become some of the most enjoyable parts of my life.

And luckily for you, I’ve described that process right here.

#1 Don’t Look for Love

The first step to finding work you love is to stop looking for it.

I know that’s counterintuitive, so let me explain.

Plenty of people jump from hobby to hobby searching for that instant gratification, that eureka moment, where everything clicks and they’ve found what they want to do for the rest of their life.

But it doesn’t work that way.

I didn’t want to make the obvious relationship comparison here, but it’s true that love takes time to develop.

I’d argue that 90% of the most successful entrepreneurs didn’t love what they did at the start. Sure they love it now, but you know what they probably said at the beginning?

“I could do that.”

Those are the four words that probably started it all.

Those entrepreneurs found a problem that sparked their interest, and they believed that they could do something about it. I’m sure they were excited when they found an issue to focus on, but that moment was far from magical. They just saw a need and rose to meet the challenge.

That’s the attitude you need at the start. You want to be a problem solver, not a feeling seeker.

#2 Find The Money

“Wow, you’re bringing up money already?”

Yep.

How would you feel if your boss only wrote checks for happiness?

It’s not practical to choose something you’ll never earn from. Simple hobbies are cool and all, but time is a precious commodity. You can’t give it all away for free.

I’m not saying that money should be your motivation—that’s an obvious red flag—but looking out for your own interests is a healthy thing to do.

Getting paid for honest work doesn’t make you evil. It makes you smart. There’s a difference between humility and enabling abuse.

Millions of people drive to mind-numbing jobs every day because they need the money. If you can make a few pennies doing work you actually enjoy, consider yourself blessed.

Now for most people, I don’t think the ethics behind getting paid for your work is the issue. For you, it’s determining if you can transform it into a profitable activity.

But fortunately for everyone in a country like the US, a country where capitalism and consumerism are running strong, the answer is almost always YES.

We live in a world where celebrities buy designer clothes for their dogs, and teenagers make millions recording themselves play videogames.

There’s always a market for products and services that utilize the skills you already have.

So don’t limit your earning potential because you limited your thinking.

In today’s internet age, there’s potential to earn doing whatever you want. But don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s easy.

No one’s gonna pay you to sit on the couch and eat cheeseburgers for example.

But if you use that interest in cheeseburgers to start a website or Youtube channel where you review them, explain the process behind making the tastiest ones, and travel to burger joints across the country to sample the best burgers in the nation, then you might earn some cash.

This whole process is about changing your habit of consumption, and using your interests to produce for others.

Get rid of the idea that work is only “real” if it’s miserable. Make the change from consumer to producer and you’ll always have the chance to make some dough.

#3 Decide and Commit

So you’ve found an activity you like and you know there’s a way you can earn from it. Now you have to do the most important step on this list:

Decide to do it right now.

No but’s, no maybe’s, and no someday’s.

Indecision breeds procrastination. And procrastination quickly turns into “what if?”.

Say this to yourself instead:

“This is what I’m gonna do, and I won’t quit until I’ve given it my all.”

That statement contains two of the most powerful things in the world: a decision, and a commitment.

Decisions make you do it now. Commitments keep you doing it later.

Prepare for the long haul here. Because the truth is that there are no overnight successes. There are only overnight discoveries.

work you love vision — See it before they do.

I’m usually big on being realistic, but in these cases, it’s the most unrealistic people who gain the most momentum. So stop caring about what everyone else thinks, and just start already.

The NFL quarterback, the Hollywood actor, and every politician in Washington all have one thing in common.

They all made a conscious decision to do what they’re doing today.

It’s impossible to reach a state of excellence without first deciding to get there. So whatever you choose, be decisive, make a choice, and put your head down.

We’re about to get to the fun stuff.

#4 Hit the Books

The next steps on this list are my favorite parts of the process.

It’s the journey to gain competence in your chosen activity, and that’s where the real fun lies.

But before I go any further, I need to mention that the oft-used word, passion, is a little misleading. And that’s why I’m not using it here.

Sure the goal is to create work you love, but the reality is that it’s still work. And you need to treat it as such.

It’s not enough to develop an interest in the product itself. You have to immerse yourself in your chosen subject and gain as much knowledge about it that your brain can handle.

Going back to the cheeseburger example, this is the stage where you would become a cheeseburger connoisseur—a student of the game if you will.

You have to research and think about this stuff like it’s already your job:

Find where the best cheeseburgers are sold across the country
Learn to differentiate between public opinion and a food critic’s analysis
Become so familiar with cheeseburgers that you form your own criteria to evaluate them

People want to hear from authorities, not fans with passing interests.

If you want to become an authority, you have to gain a level of expertise that most people simply don’t have.

Now conventional advice would encourage you to find mentors to help with this process, but I’ve never been a fan of conventional.

While I agree that you should still seek out mentors, the internet makes it possible to learn at ridiculous rates on your own.

Because believe it or not, people with success stories want others to succeed. That’s why they pour information onto the internet and into books, and then pray that others will find it and put it to good use.

Take advantage of that.

But always keep your plans in the back of your mind as well. You want to learn from others and improve upon what they did, not just copy them.

It’s easy to spot a fake. So always stay true to yourself.

Learn from others, but remember to keep your own ideas a priority. People will love you for it.

#5 Rise and Grind

“Wait, didn’t I just finish the work?”

No, that was learning.

Real work involves putting that knowledge to action.

Remember, at this stage you already know what to do. You just need to be consistent with the time and effort to get it rolling. But if you’re lazy and undisciplined, this is where you’ll struggle.

You’ll think it’s too hard. You’ll think it’s not worth the effort.

Meanwhile, some nobody will have taken the same idea, immersed himself in it, and put his own stuff out for consumption.

Discipline yourself now so that doesn’t happen.

And if can’t find the motivation, add some fuel to your fire.

I’m not saying quit your day job (we’re doing this the smart way remember?), but invest in your activity beforehand. Maybe tell a trusted friend or family member about your plan so they can encourage you and hold you accountable.

There’s plenty you can do to motivate yourself. But at the end of the day, work is work, there’s no escaping it. If this is what you want, then you’re the only one responsible for making it happen.

If you’ve committed to what you’ve chosen and you’ve given all the time and effort you can into making it happen, people will notice.

Real value can’t be ignored.

It’s funny how “lucky” you become when you do more than the average Joe. So make sure you’re one of those “lucky” people.

#6 Receive…But Don’t Quit

Finally, the step set for many destinations but few arrivals.

Keep in mind that in order to get something of value, you have to give something of value in return. But if you’ve followed all the steps up to this point, the giving part will be mostly done.

You will have developed a real love for what you do here and for the journey you completed earlier. And you’ll realize that things like money are just side effects of what you’ve done.

But don’t let rewards stop you now.

Keep improving even after they come in.

That’s how the greats separate themselves from the good. That’s how full-blown businesses separate themselves from side-hustles that produce extra income.

Think bigger than the initial payout and you’ll open yourself to a world of possibilities.