“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”
-- Albert Schweitzer
Many other people are credited with similar quotes, so if this sentiment is so often repeated, one would presume that it carries more than a grain of truth to it. Why then do so few people choose to do what they love for a living? I will be very candid and say I do not love what I do for a living. I take pride in doing my best at everything I do; I am quite capable and competent at what I do; I derive a certain sense of satisfaction in completing an especially hard task or solving a particularly hard problem- however none of these even remotely begin to approach truly loving what I do. I certainly don’t dream of putting together the best revenue forecast ever known to man, or facilitating the most effective Sales and Operations Planning meeting anyone has ever attended. While I may have aspirations to advancing my career, quite truthfully this is driven largely by two factors, a) a competitive drive to excel at whatever I do, and b) quite simply, greed (for lack of a better term). To some degree, it wouldn’t matter if I were a fish sorter. If, through some ‘Twilight Zone-esque’ mechanism I awoke one day and that were the profession in which I found myself, I’d want to be the best damn fish sorter there ever was. I’d also want to be the fish sorting manager, and eventually the President of the entire fish sorting division. Why? Because it would bother me to admit that someone was a better fish sorter than me. I would also covet the financial rewards associated with being the President of the fish sorting division, and I’d want to provide a better life for my family and fund my expensive hobbies, er… pursuits. But make no mistake, these two character traits (or flaws, depending on your perspective) do not equate to loving what one does. Eventually, I believe that a competitive drive alone is not enough to bring happiness. I’m sure I’m not the only one that has, at some point, come to the realization that just ‘being the best’, in and of itself, is not reward enough for the amount of time we all invest in our careers.
We all hear of people that do truly love what they do. I have no doubts whatsoever that Dave Matthews, Tiger Woods, Oprah, Sting, Valentino Rossi all love what they do, and their passion is evident in their success. It’s easy to dismiss this by saying “of course they love what they do- they’re gazillionaires” but before they were ever successful they were passionate about their chosen field. Before Tiger Woods was an international celebrity and a winner of multiple major tournaments, he was just a kid playing golf at Stanford. But Tiger revolutionized the game of golf through his unprecedented work ethic. Sure, he could hit the ball a ton, but Tiger spent countless hours in the gym and on the range and others, like David Duval, took notice and soon half the PGA was on a quest to lose weight and get stronger so they could be like Tiger. My point is that, before any of these people were the successes they are today, they toiled quietly in anonymity and honed their craft until success was inevitable.
I don’t know Tiger personally- or Oprah, Dave, Sting, or Vale, but I do know one person that chose to pursue their passion instead of opting for corporate America and financial comfort, and is now reaping their just rewards. I know this person quite well, in fact. We’re best friends since childhood, college roommates, and he’s the godfather of one of our children. He’s also the coach of the Salesian High School basketball team, which just won their first CIF state championship, and he also celebrated his 250th win this season. Congratulations coach Bill Mellis on an amazing season, and on everything you’ve accomplished so far. I have no doubts that this is just the beginning of your success as a coach. Your passion and dedication to your players and to the game is truly inspiring to watch. It was evident to me and to everyone that knows you that this was what you were cut out to do even back when you were the manager of the Cal basketball team in college. Heck, this is what you were born to do. We’re all cheering for you!
I’ll close with another quote- I think it’s fitting that it’s one from the legendary coach:
“Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.”
-- John Wooden
http://www.insidebayarea.com/timesstar/prepsports/ci_11970279
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