The Art of Work: A Proven Path to Discovering What You Were Meant to Do

running habit, which I usually do a few times a week if I’m
lucky. It’s fun, easy, and keeps me in shape, but will it lead
to world-class performance? Not likely. I haven’t put nearly
enough hours in, not to mention the right kind of hours. I
only run when it’s convenient, never pushing myself too
hard. Why don’t I put more effort into exercise? Because I
don’t want to. It’s something I do for fun, not excellence.
This is an important distinction when considering your
life’s work. Most people won’t continue doing something
they aren’t passionate about, especially when it gets hard.
Putting an activity through painful practice is a great way to
determine your direction in life. If you can do something
when it’s not fun, even when you’re exhausted and bored
and want to give up, then it just might be your calling.
I don’t know where this idea that your calling is
supposed to be easy comes from. Rarely do easy and
greatness go together. The art of doing hard things requires
an uncommon level of dedication. You have to love the
work to be able to persevere through those difficult times,
those painful moments when you would probably rather
quit. How do you do that without an uncanny amount of
passion? It’s not possible. You must love the work. Not until
you find something you can do to the point of exhaustion,
to the extent that you almost hate it but can return to it
tomorrow, have you found something worth pursuing.
Love, I think, is a much better criterion than lack of
difficulty. If you can love what you do, even when it hurts,
then you may have more than a hobby. And if you’ve never