We have all heard this cliché before “do what you love and the money will follow”, yet what does it really mean. A teacher working in a private school making less than $30,000 would say “yeah right” “show me the money” while someone like Donald Trump has made billions doing what he loves.

Why does this tired cliché still get so much attention? For me, it works on many different levels. Yet, there are professions where what we love to do is not perceived as being that valuable monetarily, for example the school teacher or the struggling yoga teacher. So, how does this cliché work?

1) If you love what you do, you are more willing to put in overtime for extra money

Many people are physically and mentally exhausted doing a 40 hour work week doing something that they despise. All that they want to do is come home, have a drink and sit down in front of the television. Doing what they despise has put them into a resentful and angry energy level where nothing extra is going to get done. Yet, if you love what you do, it really isn’t work. I remember when I worked on computer programs that it was an intellectual challenge for me. Thus, I did not mind putting in overtime because it was fun and challenging. Another example, a school teacher can work extra hours as a private tutor for extra money.

2) If you love what you do, you are more likely to get promoted

I have said this before, if you had two employees who did the same quality of work, yet one was excited about what he did and the other could wait until 5:00, who would you promote and give a raise to?

3) If you love what you do, you will not want to retire

Many people work their job just waiting for the golden watch at retirement. Thus, they need to save as fast as they can to build their nest egg so they have enough to last in retirement when money is not coming in. However, you see some coaches (college and professional) working in their 70’s (even for those who made their millions already) because they love what they do. Retirement may mean slowing down a bit, yet it is still about doing what they love. Think how less stressful it would be if you did not need to worry if you have enough money saved for retirement because the money never stopped coming in.

More and more people are talking about working during retirement because they will not have enough money to retire on. I would hate to imagine if they are working at something that they do not love when they are in their 70’s.

4) If you love what you do, you will see more opportunities

Opportunities come to those who have their head held high and can see opportunities even on a cloudy/rainy day. For those who are depressed about going to work, they are going to be looking down at the sidewalk wondering how soon 5:00 is going to get here and will not see the same opportunities.

Julie Aigner-Clark, founder of Baby Einstein, is passionate about art, music and poetry and shared this passion with her daughter. From this passion, she created a multi-million dollar company that touches the lives of millions. Do you think this same opportunity would have come along to someone who did not love what they were doing? And, how many parents had this same idea but did not see the opportunity (behind the cloud of “I can’t do this”). Many parents who had the same idea did not see it as an opportunity rather from how much work it would be to make it happen, and their passion was just not there. As many self-employed person can tell you, you need a lot of energy and enthusiasm to keep you going through the rough times of creating a business, so you better love what you do.

5) If you love what you do, you will attract new opportunities and contacts

In today’s business world, it is about making contacts who can help you down the road. The more people you know, the easier it will be to get to the next level. Think about how many people you can meet on a plane, on a train or at a bar. If you find yourself out of work, maybe the person who was sitting next to you a year ago on a train hires you because he heard you talking about your passion about your job (just happened to be in the same field you were in) and handed you his business card saying if you ever need a job call me. Do you think you would have had the same opportunity if you just complained on how companies are greedy and just want to work you to death? There are reasons why accounting companies and law firms want their employees to volunteer on different boards of not-for-profit companies. One of the reasons is for making contacts with other board members that can possibly be the source of additional business down the road.

This is where the law of energy and money comes in. Everything in the world is energy. Thoughts are energy. Feelings are energy. And finally, energy is the source of creation. A new project does not get off the ground without a lot of energy behind it. Those who have thoughts and feelings that are of a lower energy field (e.g., shame, guilt, fear or anger) are going to have fewer opportunities come their way. Those who have thoughts and feelings of a higher energy field (e.g., joy, love and happiness) will attract and find new contacts and opportunities.

So what energy do you have about your job?

6) If you love what you do, the money is less important

If you talk to a teacher who really loved being in the classroom with children, usually the issue with money is never the first topic of conversation that comes up. The conversation is usually about how bright and brilliant their students are and not about the latest teacher’s contract. In my conversations, where the money topic comes up are with teachers who feel overworked, underpaid and unappreciated. I love teachers and do not want to start a debate about how much or little they are paid. I just want to point out that when you really love what you do, the money becomes less important. If you were an author or speaker who writes/talks about what you love, you would do this if your audience is 1 person or 1,000 people.

So if you hate my job but you need the money to keep food on the table, what do you do? A single answer will not work for each individual’s circumstances, so I do not want to try to answer this. Yet, one thing that everyone can do is look at what you want to give to the world and see how you can do that in your current job. When you see your job as giving a gift to someone else, this usually makes the job more enjoyable. For myself, I enjoyed being a mentor for the younger employees. Thus, in my last job, I made sure I focused on my mentoring responsibilities as much as possible because this gave me some of my greatest joy at work.

When some people hate their jobs, they believe that they need to quit their job. They may decide to open up a yoga studio (if their passion in life is to help people relieve stress in their lives). For some, this may be their path, if that is their inner calling. Yet, what most people overlook is how they can accomplish their life purpose where they currently are at in the corporate world. If you want to relieve stress (or heal others) but see yourself as just a cashier or telemarketer, look at it as how can you bring a smile to someone who is right in front of you. This is where the rubber meets the road; doing what you love where you are at. Your purpose may not need to touch 1,000 people right away, just the person who is standing in front of you right now.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 20th, 2006 at 6:28 am and is filed under Prosperity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.