I love web design. So I started my web design agency, 47 Media, in 2000. I thought I’d be living my dream life – doing what I love and still getting paid for it.
Guess what? It was a lie! After a while, I hated going to work in my OWN COMPANY.
Why? Because I spent very little time doing design. Instead, I spent most of the time looking for clients, chasing for payments, worrying about the competition, and a million other less glamorous stuff!
Then I had an epiphany – building a business around what I love is different from doing what I love. I learnt that to do what I love, I had to do all the difficult and boring shit first.
For example, I may be good at soccer. But to play at the professional level, I have to wake up early every day and spend hours practising in the field and sacrificing my social life.
So I came to terms with myself. I have to learn to love what I do to do what I love eventually. This mindset shift not only has made me a happier person but also has gotten me more and better clients!
What about you? Have you ever hated doing what you love? I know, it sounds like an irony – hating what you love. But if you ever have the experience of starting a business doing what you love, you will most likely be able to understand this irony!
