A few weeks ago, I told a story about a man I once knew who was really, genuinely passionate about wrought-iron fencing. I know, right? How many of us have ever spared more than two seconds to think about wrought-iron fencing? But it was his favorite thing to talk about. And my point is that he eventually went from a nondescript employee at a fencing company to running one of the biggest in the country.

They say, “do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life. And that’s profoundly true, but we’ve all heard it so often that it no longer makes any impression on us. Not to mention that the reality is always more complicated than the proverb. But proverbs are only a foundation for wisdom—so let’s see what we can build today.

Creative Fulfillment as a Stress Reliever

Bob Ross famously said, “Every day’s a good day when you paint.” Now, I’m an absolutely terrible artist. Really bad. But if Bob doesn’t mind me paraphrasing a bit, I think his point is that every day is a good day when you do what you love. And he’s right. The real key isn’t to literally never to work a day in your life. People need work. There is substantial research to suggest that when we stop working, we tend to start dying. The key is to find work that brings joy and fulfillment, rather than just stress—you’ll always have some stress, but it shouldn’t be overwhelming.

In fact, that stress can be a good thing. That probably sounds nuts to those of you who have been following me for a while, but look at it this way. The human body requires a certain amount of stress to grow and remain healthy—that’s how exercise works. There’s even a name for it: eustress. In the same way, mental stress can be a good thing within healthy thresholds, if it’s in service to something positive and worthwhile. Just one more reason why passions are well worth chasing for their own sake—you might say we’re built for it!

I should probably add that I don’t think this is true only for jobs that people think of as “creative,” like the arts. I think that as long as you are building something of value, creating something good, whether it’s a work of art, a tool, or a service, it can bring a form of creative fulfillment. Worry is focused on the future, or something that happened in the past. But doing your thing, whatever that might be, is a great way of grounding yourself in the present.

Finding Your Best Life

I mentioned earlier that there is substantial evidence indicating that people who don’t work tend to deteriorate physically. So how much better for your body, your mind, and your emotions if you are not only working, but doing work that you love and find stimulating?

In the same way that cells are always in either growth-mode or stress-mode, our lives can be in a state of either positivity and growth mindset, or stress and struggling just to get by. This is one of the most important roles of passion and love for what you do, it drives growth, drives positivity, and leads to the discovery of more and more things to love.

Pursuing your personal passions naturally means constantly growing and expanding your horizons. Even if it’s only in one small field, over time this will tend to mean opening new doors and discovering new passions, which means a richer life with even more sources of fulfillment. And since we’re doing all this out of love for the task itself, we can rely on a much more stable sense of work-life balance.

Resilient Emotional Health

There’s no such thing as a perfectly stable life. Unexpected things happen. All humans make mistakes, and disruptions are inevitable. One of the things that often keeps people from pursuing passions is the thought that it is somehow irresponsible, that seeking stability and security is the adult thing to do. Of course, we must try to plan for the future and be responsible as far as we can, but there is another kind of irresponsibility in disregarding our emotional fulfillment for too long. We ought to take care of ourselves inside as well as out, don’t you think?

One of the great benefits of consistently pursuing a passion (whether professionally or not) is the emotional resilience it brings us. A job that you do just for the paycheck can still be rewarding: a sense of a job well done and money well earned. But when you are intensely passionate about something, your fulfillment is inherent, not results-based. Which means that it can’t be taken away from you.

Another thing to consider is that passions make excellent practice, even if they’ll never be your main career. Working hard on something you love doing is easy, and you may find that it’s easy to take some of that energy, and even some of the ideas, and carry them over to the rest of your day.

Balancing Personal Passions with Life’s Obligations

Admittedly, it can be difficult to find room in your life for hobbies along with a full-time job, or whatever else might be occupying the bulk of your time. There are some things you can do about this, but even so, they don’t make it easy.

One common practice is to simply block out a couple of hours per day in your schedule for pursuing your passion, and stick to it. I think this is a good idea. I’m not an organized person by nature, and I would never have gotten to where I am if I hadn’t forced myself to develop routines for everything—but I would add a couple of personal notes.

First of all, try not to think of it in terms of have-tos. “I have to do my thing during these couple hours, because it’s on my schedule.” Nothing kills enthusiasm faster. Give yourself permission to do what you really want, and if you can, put it during a part of your day where you have a lot of energy that you would otherwise be struggling to focus. Studies have repeatedly shown that taking rests in the middle of the workday actually increases productivity, and I think that making time to indulge the things you love can have a similar effect.

That’s all for today! Until next time, do some thinking about what you most love doing. If you’re not doing it every day, or at least somewhat regularly, try taking just one small step toward it today. Enthusiasm dies down if it isn’t put to use, but if you really love something, it usually just takes a spark, and it all comes roaring back.

Have a blessed, wonderful day!

Dr. Alex Loyd