I hear this a lot in different versions:

“I’m good at what I do, but I don’t feel good about what I do.”

The bottom line here, I believe, is that the people saying these words are paid a lot of money to do something they’re not particularly passionate about. When I hear the word “should” or watch someone’s pained or dull facial expression as they’re explaining to me why they stay in unhappy work situations–entrepreneurial or corporate–I can’t help myself from reflecting back what I see.

“Where’s the joy? What lights you up?” I ask.

They’re usually confounded by that question. Like working and joy are unrelated. That’s the saddest thing for me to witness.

I surround myself with men and women who wake up each morning raring to get started on their work that day. They LOVE their work, their clients, their vendors. Who doesn’t enjoy being with highly energized, passionate people?

The sad news is that so many men and women who thing that the dollar is the ONLY bottom line in business. They legitimize this with keywords like mortgage, college tuition, gas prices. I don’t spend a lot of time in those conversations.

Here’s the good news: when you’re doing work you love:

• You find creative ways to fund your business. One client started a series of workshops to make up the shortfall from saying no to a lucrative client.
• You need less “stuff” to make you feel good because happiness is generated from within. An extremely creative new client, whose day job is in the financial arena, doesn’t need to pay for as many doctors when she’s pursuing her artistic endeavors.
• You attract opportunities which become increasingly more lucrative because your performance is better in arenas where you’re really happy. (See my recent post on Jill Flynne’s experience.)

Need I say more?