The Difference Between “Hard-Work”, “Smart-Work” and “True Passion”.
Are you working harder when you should have been working smarter?
Working is vital for our well-being and our healthy interactions with society.
That thinking that “you should love your work so much that it becomes nothing but playing” is not only true, but it is my current perspective on this subject.
Hard Work
Now I have a few opportunities opened for me, but I’m striving to focus on those that makes the heart-beats stronger.
And this is where confusion enters the equation.
In busy cities there is a common misconception that if you work harder you will achieve success. This is a basic lie.
Working 100 hours a week, as some people proudly yell, is only going to burn you out and make your life kinda miserable.
If you are working hard and making progress, that is great!
But if you are working hard and stagnated in life, you’ll have to reevaluate the approach. And probably change.
You see, to become really good at something, you have to put a full-ass at it, not only half-ass.
When it comes to anything in life, a smarter approach to our actions save us energy and effort. From cooking to exercising to creating a website.
Working super hard means that we are struggling.
Things are better when made from a position of ease and playfulness.
Results will always come reflecting ourselves.
Smart Work
If we are struggling, we need to change something.
Flow occurs when skill match our challenges.
It is not only hard work that will bring us the desired outcome.
There is also wisdom in recognizing how we can commit to rapid and continuous improvements. We have to keep in mind the Paretto’s Principle, where 20% of the effort generates 80% of results.
Good musicians play so well that it seems effortless.
They have mastered the instrument, allowing space for experimentation, change and improvisation with ease.
Chefs can make a 5 star dish in 20 minutes.
They have mastered the chemistry of ingredients, they know every little combination and secret to make a incredible impressions in our mouth.
Athletes reach supreme levels of their bodies.
They have trained so much, that flowing in competitions becomes natural, showing up in their best version and breaking world-records.
True Passion
The journey of continuous improvement (Kaizen) has lead me down a deliberate path of growth, evolution, and discovery. This journey thought me that we cannot expect something external to bring us a certain feeling.
- But how can one find one’s true passion?
The thing is: as complicated as these topics might seem, there is a lot which you already know deep inside.
That is why you need a strong heart-connection.
If you want to be happier in your current job, it is your duty to first feel that way about it. And then reflect this feeling to others involved.
Or change to a new field.
I’ve applied the same principle in my personal life-experience:
I am still young, and that is true. But I’ve experimented in many different fields… I went from a Cartesian software engineering mentality to working in visual arts, and then writing, and now I am a digital nomad traveling in Thailand.
Every one that I meet in this journey teach a little bit more about myself.
What helps me to start a new blank page in the life script is to test an experience with a direction in sight.
When listening to the heart, you will always be guided towards the path that makes you fulfilled.
Chasing dreams is something that we were not thought at school, but working with our passion is the easiest way to manifest happiness to experience your best life yet.
# day 14
You are not alone 👁
