Do What You Love!
Posted by
Paul Alves on Wed, Oct 12, 2023 @ 04:46 PM
We have all heard the saying. “Find a job doing what you love and you will never have to work another day in your life...” I have always thought that was nice and all but I have to make money; as much as possible and as soon as possible. Skiing, yoga and sailing is not likely to get me there.
I’m going to have to work hard, harder than my peers, in an industry where the top performers make big money.
Off I went to Boston to work for one of those big investment houses. I signed a lease without so much as an interview, let alone an offer. That was just a formality. I had a friend who worked for Dean Witter in NYC, she could not help me get an interview, but she got me the name of the branch manager in Boston and told me it was a great company where the brokers made a lot of money. That was it, I was going to be a stock broker with Dean Witter. So I began the process of reaching out to the branch manager. After no less than 20 calls and having developed a friendly relationship with his assistant, Bob took my call, telling me while he appreciated my persistence I was not the right profile. Long story short, I convinced him to bring me into the next training program. If you have seen the movie Pursuit of Happiness with Will Smith, you will get an idea of what I went through. Less the child and the whole sleeping in the bathroom thing. Anyway, after about 3 years of cold calling 12 hours a day I started to make some money, only to realize I hated my job. The guys that made the most money took a lot of risks. No amount of money was going to make me happy if I had to spend my days on a rollercoaster ride risking other peoples money. It was just not my thing. I gave my book of business to my buddy and moved on.
I met a beautiful girl, (my wife of 16 years) who probably agreed to a date because she thought I was a hot shot broker. Anyway, the next 18 months were a bit busy, I got married, bought a house, and opened a coffee shop all within the next 18 months.
I love coffee, certainly drank enough of it as a broker. I would establish my first shop, expand to multiple locations and I would have it all, money and a job I loved. Well it did not exactly work out that way. While I love coffee, it turns out I don’t like getting up at 4am. Oh yeah a little company called Starbucks was a bit ahead of the curve on my growth plan. They moved into the state in a big way much to the chagrin of many mom & pop operations. It was a good run, made some money and was able to sell the business for a nice profit.
Kind of a long lead up to my point, but..... While I was working at Java I met a really interesting guy; Richard was a professor of anthropology at Rhode Island College. He would come in everyday around 9:30am, by then the crowd had died down and I would have a chance to chat with him. I often think back to one particular discussion when I asked him what he did. He told me about his job with great passion and excitement and said, Paul, I wake up everyday and have to pinch myself. I feel like I’m getting away with something, I go to “work” everyday and do what I love, and they actually pay me for it! I’m the luckiest guy in the world.” From that day on I have always strived to achieve what Richard had. To wake up everyday and want to go to work rather than have to go to work. Over the years I have observed the most successful and happy people are spending their day at work doing what they love. My advice, find a way to make a living doing what you love. The rest will take care of itself.