Friday 7 March 2008

Do what you love, love what you do

What do you actually like doing? What is close to your heart? The poor beggar on the street may not have a choice in the matter, but if you are reading this, then you do. Do what you love to do and if you do it with passion and enthusiasm then the world will conspire to reward you.

I met someone at a function some time ago and I started to make conversation. I was just being my friendly, curious self. I asked a guy sitting next to me "What do you do?" He said, "I used to be a doctor." I said "You used to be a doctor?" He said, "I have gone into computers now." And I asked him "Why?" And he said, "Because I can make more money." Whoever you were, I imagine you studied medicine for all those years because you wanted to help people. Now you just want to help yourself.

The most successful ventures in the world we all a result of a labour of love.

There is definitely a culture of entitlement in the Western world that has developed since the days of the Internet gold rush. I am convinced the dot com explosion has fueled this type of behaviour. It is that get rich quick thinking that has confused so many people, especially the most recent generations of young business people. No one is thinking about building something that will last. No one is thinking about leadership. There are too many bosses in dot com world and "real" work is something that someone else will do. And lately, things are looking a bit rocky on the world markets. There are a whole generation of young punters out there who have seen their stocks go up and up and up. And now, they are walking around in daze going "But we thought the markets only ever went up."

I am going to end off my rambling today by quoting a fictional character who goes by the name of Tom Walker. He was going on about computers and what they have done to mankind. "I don't know the first thing about them! Never used one in my life! Hate the damn things! Just a decade ago farming was about producing the best harvest. These days it is about the most harvest ... that's what computers represent to me. They are all about the numbers. Stick to the fundamentals is what I say … Money's not the only way to measure success."

Tom Walker says it all folks. Is this what the IT world has come to represent? Does everyone with a Web site think they deserve millions?

Set the pace and be a leader; do something that will make a genuine difference to people’s lives. Yes, get this right and the world will conspire to reward you.

Posted by Ronnie Apteker

1 comments:

trendbox said...

I really agree with the fact that people are doing what they do for money. Allot of people I know went into IT careers because "that is where the money is". I am a consultant in the IT industry and I do it for the love. I also have a web site (http://www.first-edition.co.za) that I do part time a s a second labor of love. I love books and reading, and as such I wanted to give unknown writers a platform to get noticed.