When You Hate What You Do

When you hate what you do things are not as difficult as you might think. Somehow sloth and laziness weasel their way into your circle of friends and slowly lull you into their confidence. You may work long, hard hours everyday, but while you’re working you’re not really there. Even when you are there doing your work, you’re doing your best to be somewhere far off in your mind where the painfully slow ticking of the clock, beating like a rock against your skull, won’t be felt.

When you hate what you do hard work isn’t all that hard and it’s made easier by the fact that you could care less whether or not it’s good. Your boss may yell at you for not getting it done, but when you hate what you do getting fired would be a sweet blessing so bring it on. Indifference will make you colder than a dead man in the snow could ever hope to freeze. Being a dead man isn’t really so hard is it?

The truth is, in the end hating what you do is one of the biggest blessings you could hope to receive in your life. Hating what you do is not the end of the journey, it’s just the beginning. The discomfort of disliking your work means you’re that much closer to finding what you really want and, God willing, doing something about it. If you hate what you do, stop talking and start doing. Things don’t get done by dreaming about them and work doesn’t go away because you hate it. Love, hate, passion, and indifference all come and go, but action is the only thing that will save you from your plight. Escape the nightmare, take action.

Most of us, save for a lucky few, hate what we do. If money and the system of manipulation of people without billions of dollars did not exist, the vast majority of people would go off and do something else with their days. So what are we supposed to do about it? Just go the bar and commiserate? That may help, but I think a better answer is TAKE ACTION. Don’t just sit there and think, don’t just sit there and drink, don’t just talk, DO SOMETHING! Do even the smallest thing and take a step in the direction you know you need to go. Even if you can only take one step today and the next step 30 years from now, take the step. Then have patience enough with yourself to take the next step as soon as you can, but for God’s sake take the step! It will take you further than you could ever have imagined as you were sitting there thinking, drinking, and talking.

My own journey to loving what I do came by some kind of dumb luck and in no way reflects that I’m any better than anyone else who hates their job. I got fired after working for 5 years in a job that slowly lulled me into a stupor of comfort and boredom. It was my first time ever being fired and it proved to be the biggest blessing of my life. It forced me to leave my comfortable little cage and get out and start freelancing before I was ready. I’ve learned that if you wait until you’re ready, nothing will ever happen. You just have to be ready enough and sometimes not even that. Not everyone can get lucky enough to get booted out of their nightmare like I did, but what I’ve learned since starting my new adventure is that action is the answer to just about every worry and problem a troubled mind can come up with. Every time I’ve been on the floor curled up in a ball feeling like dying the only thing that has ever saved me is getting my ass up and taking a single step in the right direction. Just get up and do the work you know you need to do to feel good today. You might wonder, “What the hell am I supposed to do? I hate my job and I hate my life, how am I supposed to know how to fix it?”

We love to fill our minds with the “answers” before we act, but I think that most of the time we all know damn well exactly what we need to do to improve our circumstance, we simply don’t do it because it’s just too damn hard. Much easier to read a good self help book, go to the bar and complain about your boss, just sit their and dream, or read an article on the internet. Action is the answer. Don’ t worry about getting it all perfect and being a hero tomorrow, just take that tiniest of steps towards what you really want and what, deep down, makes you feel good today. Sometimes that tiny step seems to have nothing to do with your ultimate goal, but don’t believe your chattering, doubting mind. Every step in the right direction is a victory and no good deed can ever be taken from you. Leave your doubts behind you, take that step before you’re ready, let yourself feel good about it and, when you can, do it again. There is power and infinite potential in the smallest of movements towards the person you want to be. When you hate what you do, take steps everyday (especially if they’re hard), however big or small, that make you feel good deep down and you will be well on your way to a better life.

Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will…if you must, die trying.