Joy and Effort

Monday, September 15

Getting better isn’t always fun.

There’s a common phrase you hear that if you love what you do you’ll never work a day in your life. Unfortunately, it’s a lie. It sounds nice but it’s not realistic. You won’t love all of it. And that’s okay. You don’t need to.

We’ve also created this unhealthy and unrealistic expectation that if it doesn’t give you joy, you shouldn’t do it. “Life is too short to spend your time on things you don’t enjoy.” I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that’s not how this works. Not at all.

Some days will not be fun.
Some work will not be exciting.
Some effort will not be on what you want to do.
Some things you will want to skip will be required.

And on those days, you still show up. And on those tasks, you still give your best. Because your best is not conditional on how the work makes us fee. Our best is about our standard.

Do the work you don’t want to do. Give the effort you don’t want to give. This is the path of becoming your best.
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Keep chopping wood. 🪵🪓

-Kevin