If you followed me for a while, you might have seen I like traveling around.
I've recently been to Mauritius for six weeks, and we just returned from a 4-week Euro-trip.
As much as this sounds amazing, all my friends always tell me I should not work during these trips.
I get arguments thrown at my head about what they would do and how they would spend their time there.
Even on a weekend trip with some friends, they get upset that I get up early to write my blog. I even finish writing my articles and sometimes even go for a run before any of them even wake up 🤷♂️.
So why do they even care?
I believe a lot of people feel stressed out by my behavior. For them, it's a non-working day, and they get anxious if someone else is working.
The same applies to trips. When they go on a trip it has nothing to do with work.
Why do I care?
I just got a bit of a sour aftertaste that I was doing something wrong.
But it didn't feel wrong to me. I have zero stress or "need" to work. I want to do it.
I even asked my friends why they would suggest that, and it all comes down to them not enjoying their job.
They feel tired, exhausted, and unmotivated outside of work, while I feel energized, eager and motivated to start the next day.
Which made me realize this is a feeling to cherish truly.
How to love your job
You might be in line with those who feel drained by their job, and let me try to explain how I got to love my job.
About ten years ago, a good friend asked me a simple question: "Do you enjoy coming home?"
This simple question sparked a million neurons in my brain to go off and think hard about the answer.
I realized I was bored, the job was tedious, my life was boring, and it was not what I seek in life.
I think it was a week later that I asked for a chat with my former boss and discussed this feeling.
He was very understanding and asked me what they could do to accommodate my feeling.
I decided to check if there was an opportunity to work for an overseas branch in a different role. (I had zero expectations here).
I was surprised when he said: "Yeah, sure, Cape Town good for you?"
And about two months later, I landed in Cape Town.
I won't go into more detail about this flow, but this journey changed my mindset.
- Why would I do something I don't enjoy
- I should pick what I like to do
- What do I like?
I know this sounds super simple, and a lot of you will say things in the line of:
- But if you have to support a family
- I can't let other people down
- And so on
This might be true, and there are always nuances to these questions.
My main question for you is:
Are you letting yourself down?
If the answer is yes, I strongly urge you to evaluate this second question:
What would make you happy?
It's not easy to answer, but once you find that answer, create actionable steps to achieve that happiness. Don't expect it to happen overnight, but once you've set this goal, each behavior of you should slowly contribute to achieving it.
Moral of the story
How did we go from someone else opinion about my travel to a life-changing experience?
Everyone has opinions on how to do certain things in life, and so do you. Pick your own views over others and design your life in a way that you enjoy the most.
This will benefit everyone around you, including the most valuable person there is: you!
Thank you for reading, and let's connect!
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