I took a long drive to visit a country town with a friend a few months back. We visited a studio of an artist we both admired, and afterwards, we discussed the beauty of his work as well as just how expensive his pieces were. I expressed my opinion that, as an artist, he would not only be charging for his creative ideas, he would also need to factor in the time he spent in actually creating the piece of art. And if you think about it, then the prices would be commensurate with that amount of effort.
My friend replied that the joy of creating the piece of art should be his reward – not the money he earned from it – and therefore he should just give it away. I’m pretty sure she was joking, but that comment really resonated with me as it reminded me of how I used to see work. Work was for money, not for pleasure, enjoyment or fun.
I remember years ago, a friend trying to help me explore different career possibilities. She asked me to imagine a job or career where I was blissfully happy, where I’d be excited to go to every day, and where I would feel that I was fulfilling my purpose.
I thought she was nuts.
In my mind, there was absolutely no association between working and happiness. And I really, truly and absolutely believed this. Work was something you did for money. If you happened to also enjoy parts of your job, that was simply a bonus.
Worse still, I believed that if someone was doing something they loved and enjoyed, then it really wasn’t work. They should get serious and get a real job – you know, where they can be unhappy. Work was meant to be toil and effort.
And I didn’t question that belief. To me, it was a fact. It was truth.
Looking back, I find the certainty in which I held that belief to be quite funny. And a little scary.
Oh, if only I knew then what I know now!
I think it would be like being back to the days when everyone knew (believed), without a shadow of a doubt, that the earth was flat. People were absolutely certain that if they sailed past the horizon that they would fall off the edge of the earth.
How funny do we find that belief in this day and age?
So what changed?
Well, one day, someone challenged that belief and sailed around the earth, didn’t fall off its edge, and today we all know, for a fact, that the earth is not flat.
My beliefs around work and fun have also changed. How? Firstly, it was because – thankfully – I was exposed to people like my friend who opened my mind to the possibility that things weren’t necessarily the way I had believed them to be all this time. And secondly, I did some growing up, maturing, I experienced life and started thinking for myself.
You see, if we aren’t careful or conscious about the beliefs we hold, we become and remain products of our upbringing and limited exposure to the big, wide world.
It’s only through exposure to different people, situations and environments that we get to witness different ways of living, of being, of believing and of thinking.
There’s a saying by Charlie “Tremendous” Jones that really resonates with me:
“You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.”
What you believe has gotten you exactly to where you are today. It may not be too bad. It may be fine. But is it great?
Do you believe that your life can be great?
If you answered no, then I challenge you to:
(1) Not assume I’m crazy – consider that there may be something in that question;
(2) Explore those reasons that immediately popped into your mind when you answered the question with a “No.” Why do you believe that life cannot be great?. Are those beliefs really true, or have you inherited them over the course of your life? and
(3) Get out there and meet some different people and read some different books.
Remember, your beliefs have gotten you exactly where you are today. Do those beliefs serve you or hamper you?
If you are keen on growing, then open yourself up to learning. Learning about yourself, learning about other people and learning about the world.
