Don’t you just hate it when you go to a party or attend a social gathering and someone asks you “what do you do”? Whether you’re gainfully employed or looking for work, your stomach immediately starts churning as you struggle with the question.
“Let’s see,” should I mention how much I like gardening or give the usual old line “well, I’m in between jobs”? “Maybe I should say ‘I’m a botanical consultant’ or ‘I raise Kangaroos.’” Boy, that will get them off your back pronto.
Face it, we live in a “doing” vs. “being” world as Deepak Chopra reminds us. We’re constantly “doing things.” Those who are employed or attend school “do work” or “do school.” In whatever spare time we have, we ride a bike, read a book or bake a cake.
Doing things in our lives is fine to a point. Think if you got up one morning and discovered “I have nothing to do.” Pretty boring life, yes?
But many of us are obsessed with “doing things.” We create stress in our lives by “over doing it.” Then we make it worse by creating “to do” lists. If you’re like me, I’ve given up “to do” lists because I usually end up doing what I want to do anyway.
So how does “doing” fit into your job or career, whether you’re seeking employment or are happily or unhappily employed? Lots.
Do What You Like To Do
Many of us end up in jobs and careers that don’t reflect what we like to do. We choose careers and jobs based on advice from parents and friends, our educational background, advertised jobs or employment trends.
In our current economic doldrums, many people seek jobs only to put food on the table or pay the mortgage. But even in “good times” (remember those?), too many of us land jobs that don’t let us do what we like to do.
This happened to me. After graduating from college–having worked in radio broadcasting part-time–I packed up, moved to the Midwest and ran two National Public Radio stations for seven years. I loved it. I enjoyed managing the stations, doing my own radio shows and gaining a bit of notoriety in small towns like Brookings, South Dakota and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I was a big fish in a small pond. I liked doing what I was doing.
After seven years of frigid Winters and low-pay, however, I returned to California, my home state, and started running inside sales departments and call centers. For several years, I consulted with companies seeking professional advice setting up telephone sales and marketing campaigns.
I loved giving advice, training people how to improve their voices and effectiveness on the telephone, writing call guides and marketing plans and helping companies grow. As the years passed, though, I tired of the long hours and the turnover in the call center industry. Doing what I was doing wasn’t fun any longer and I left the corporate world nearly three years ago.
Now I blog and produce podcasts in the mobile industry. I’m using many of the skills I picked up in radio and running call centers–writing, speaking, interviewing, managing a business, etc.–but I’ve changed venues. I have a home-based business with a super-fast Internet connection. I interview experts in mobile technology and mobile marketing and advertising worldwide and post podcasts and blog articles on MobileBeyond and IM-Mobile, my two mobile blogs. And, I LOVE mobile and wireless gadgets.
While the business hasn’t yet generated tons of money, I’m doing what I like to do and firmly believe if I continue “following my dream,” my business will become profitable.
Which brings us to…
Figuring Out What You Like to Do
Without criticizing book writers and professionals who help others figure out what they like to do or excel at, I’ve concluded that most people already know what they like to do. They just haven’t explored their passions in life. As a result, the latest polls reveal that over half of all Americans don’t like their jobs.
Imagine asking Albert Einstein what he liked to do. I’m 99.99% certain he wouldn’t have said “I like creating theories of the Universe.” He probably would have said: “I like working with numbers” or “I like thinking about the cosmos.” Einstein’s theory of relativity was an outcome or maybe a goal resulting from doing what he liked doing.
I heard an interesting interview on an NPR station with Joyce Carol Oates, the prolific novelist who’s written 50 books in her career. The radio host asked Oates how she managed to write and publish so many books and her advice for aspiring authors.
To paraphrase her answer, Oates said “keep on writing; write every day; don’t give up.” She also mentioned that Stephen King’s first ten books were rejected by several major publishers. He, like Oates, just kept writing. They did what they like to do and eventually made writing their full-time professions.
Here’s an example that might help:
“I like playing the guitar.”
Ask yourself why you like playing the guitar. Do you write songs for the guitar? Are you adept at tuning guitar strings and keeping guitars in tip-top shape? Do you sing when you play? Have you trained other people to play? In other words, what do you like doing with guitars? (See the highlighted skills and interests: writing songs, tuning, singing and training.)
Now you know what you like to do with guitars. Search for companies that make or market guitars or related products and services. Write your resume and approach letters based on what you like doing and explain how your passion, skills and knowledge about guitars could help companies improve their profits, increase customer satisfaction or offer new services.
Create a “30 second elevator speech” so you’re ready when someone asks you “what do you do.” “Oh, I love playing the guitar. In fact, I’ve even written songs for the guitar, trained others how to play and I’m really great at fixing and maintaining guitars. I especially like singing when I play the guitar. I’m also writing an e-book on playing and fixing guitars. That’s what I like to do.”
When you approach companies about a job or sell your e-book on the Internet or open your own guitar store, your passion, knowledge and skills for guitars will get others excited about you and your ideas. Some one might even hire you, buy your e-book, give you a referral or help you start your guitar store. Endless possibilities will come to mind as you get feedback from people who share your passion.
When I was in college, I also managed the campus radio station. But I wanted to earn extra money on the weekends to pay for school. So I approached the Operations Manager of a local commercial radio station about an announcing job. He said “no” because I didn’t have commercial radio experience.
Well, I thought to myself, the first “no” is not a final “no.” So I called him on the telephone and wrote him postcards, EVERY DAY for a month. When I called him, I always told him something new about me and how I could handle the job. Writing him postcards kept my name in front of him daily. For weeks, I shared my passion about radio, what I could do for the station, how my hours were flexible and how well I was managing the campus radio station.
He finally broke down and hired me for the weekend midnight-6 a.m. slot. I got the job. Why? Because he realized that I love announcing, know how to run broadcast equipment, already had an FCC license to operate radio transmission equipment, knew how to write radio copy and was willing to work the graveyard shift. (Note the skills and knowledge in bold.) None of this would have happened unless I loved doing what I was doing–in this case, radio announcing.
So “follow your passion.” Do what you want to do. Despite the setbacks, you’ll eventually find work you love.
(Readers who would like a more formal process for finding their dream job may enjoy reading my blog post “16 Tips for a Professional Job Search” on MarketingBeyond.)
