I love this snippet from a recent blog post on Study Hacks entitled Beyond Passion: The Science of Loving What You Do.
Research reveals that autonomy, competence, and relatedness are the key to loving what you do. So how do you get them? There are different answers to this question, but the strategy that I keep emphasizing on Study Hacks has two clear steps:
- Master a skill that is rare and valuable.
- Cash in the career capital this generates for the right rewards.
The world doesn’t owe you happiness. Your boss has no reason to let you choose your own projects, or spend one week out of every four writing a novel at your beach house. These rewards are valuable. To earn them, you must accumulate your own career capital by mastering a skill that’s equally rare and valuable.
It's a mantra, repeat it with me: The world doesn't owe me happiness -- The world doesn't owe me happiness -- The world doesn't owe me happiness -- The world doesn't owe me happiness -- The world doesn't owe me happiness -- The world doesn't owe me happiness -- The world doesn't owe me happiness.
We must earn it.