Do What You Like To Achieve Success

If you really want to be successful: do what you like. It's that simple. If we really enjoy something and do it often, we become better and better at it. It's a very nice thing to say, but can this approach really make us successful?

The real question to answer here is: What is success? Success is relative; it very much depends on the context. If we're talking about a hobby, success can be completing a project. If we're talking about work, it can mean bringing in enough money to sustain a family. To one person it may mean becoming rich. For another it may just be the satisfaction of accomplishment regardless of monetary return.

At whatever level we choose our success, doing what we like is a much better strategy than doing what someone else likes. It's extremely difficult to know what will please other people. And what pleases one person may displease another. If what we like to do is please other people, then this approach is perfectly suited. But, otherwise, measuring our success in relation to doing anything just to please others doesn't make much sense. It's difficult to be fully motivated when the going gets tough if we don't like what we're doing in the first place.

There are always things we're obliged to do that we may not like so much. There's a time for doing what we like. We may have obligations that require us to dedicate much of our time doing something we don't enjoy. But if we find ways to pursue whatever it is we do like, as much as possible in our spare time, we may find that an opportunity opens up in time. In the future it may become possible to more fully integrate what we like doing with our own goal of success.

I have some t-shirts that are super comfortable (which is something I like) and that I love to wear because of what they say. I discovered these a few years ago and have several different colors and designs. They're from a company called Life Is Good.There's a story about the two brothers who started this company. At first they tried to sell, door-to-door in college dormitories, t-shirts they had designed. It didn't go so well in the first years: they lived on peanut butter and jelly and slept in their van. It wasn't until they included a little character they had created with a super grin, that their t-shirts started to really sell. Jake expressed everything they believed in with his message of optimism. And this idea and passion for what they held dear struck a chord in many others. Now they have hats and shorts, shoes and all sorts of things for sale with Jake and the Life Is Good motto. Following their dream eventually made them successful, even if at first it seemed it wouldn't be so.On the front at the bottom of the t-shirt is a small patch sewn on which says: "Do what you like. Like what you do." This cheers me on every time I see it. I also have a yellow Life Is Good baseball cap.

You may remember from the Jasmine posts on DweezelJazz blog, that Jazzy chooses a lot of things she does. In fact she expresses her opinion about everything she does or is asked to do. Whenever it isn't imperative that she do something - which is most of the time - she's allowed to say no. Quite a while ago, I asked her if she wanted to do something and she clearly didn't want to. I said to her then, "Ok, Jazzy, do what you like." I didn't consciously make the connection with the t-shirts or anything else, but was just allowing her the respect she deserves.

I hadn't said it often, but it seems it meant quite a bit to the little girl, because she worked on it, practicing it herself, long before I knew what she was trying to say. Now it's her motto; it's one of the things she says most often (apart from 'shower' and the fact that she's a 'good girl'). She says it at least once a day, usually in the morning: "Jasmine, do what you like." And she says it in context and clearly knows what it means.


In my book, Jazzy's a successful character: she's happy. She gives those around her a tremendous amount by doing what she likes and being who she is.

How To Discover Our Passions

If you want to know more about someone and what they think about different things, a good way to find out is to ask them. This can also work extremely well for ourselves!

That might sound like a funny idea, but there are times when we don't know what we're thinking or feeling about a situation, a person, or even our life. There may be some niggling sensation that tells us we do have thoughts and feelings about something, but we may not have the time, or take the time, to stop and listen to what they are. They can become buried, difficult to isolate. A good approach to find out what's really going on is to ask ourselves.

A particularly important facet of our lives that can be very fulfilling is doing something we really enjoy. Becoming completely engrossed in an activity can lead to a sense of satisfaction, contentment and accomplishment.

Some people know what they like to do and they do it. They can become so involved in their passion for it that they become experts and they naturally develop strengths that cause them to excel in it. They eagerly put hours into cultivating their interest, and while it might be hard work some of the time, they have the motivation required to persevere until they achieve what they want. It can frequently follow as a simple progression that a person like this ends up pursuing their genuine interest in some form of career or employment.

For others it may not be so easy. Some of us may not even have fully figured out what exactly it is we like to do. There can be many reasons for this, but it happens all too frequently that we don't have time to investigate what we like simply for the pleasure of it. Or maybe we have the notion that it wouldn't be an acceptable way to spend time, perhaps it doesn't seem useful enough.


It is amazing though, the variety of extreme and bizarre activities people have managed to turn into a hobby and then, eventually, a means of income.


Whether it's to find a new career that is more directly related to things we love to do, or whether it's to find out more definitively how we would most enjoy spending our spare time: there's a simple set of questions we can answer for ourselves in order to begin to discover more concretely what it is that we like especially.

List three, four or more of your most favorite:

1. magazines
2. books
3. known hobbies or fun things you like to do
   
4. topics of study or reading
   
5. historical periods or events
6. people
7. legends or interesting topics
8. films

Give as many short (one or two-word phrases) of explanation that you can think of for liking each of your choices. For sure there are more questions that can be added to that list to reveal us to ourselves; answer as many questions as you can think of to get your answers.

Patterns begin to emerge in the answers and this enables us to see more clearly what is most important and appealing to us. The answers can be a real surprise and it's lots of fun to find out what we may not consciously know about ourselves. This secret life can hold some gems that might dramatically change our outlook.



Do you have unknown passions waiting for you to discover? Try it and see!

Thinking Our Way to Success

One of the most precious commodities we have in life is the ability to think. Our thoughts alone can give us tremendous freedom, regardless of our outer circumstances. They determine how we approach situations, how we make decisions; and this in turn directs and forms many of the circumstances we find ourselves in.

Habitually following certain thought patterns can continually regenerate the same, or similar, unwanted results in our lives. If the thoughts are habitual it's unlikely that we'll recognize how they are affecting our outlook and responses. They can be so familiar to us that we consider them to be part of who we are, or how life is, and we can perceive them to be inherently unchangeable.

We may rely on other people's conclusions and experiences in forming our own. There are times when it's important, even necessary for survival, to follow someone's ideas and to do what they say.




Social obligations demand that we follow a set of general predefined rules. But ideally these should be as limited as possible to maintain a positive social structure without greatly compromising the individual's personal liberty, especially freedom of thought.
It takes practice to identify and understand which thoughts are our own, and which ones have actually been formulated by our culture and social environment. Even when we are very young it is important to be encouraged to think for ourselves and experiment with finding out what happens when we make our own choices. It is possible to allow babies certain freedoms in which they gradually find their own strength.


It's unfair to dictate to or carry the young for any great length of time, because in doing so they are not being encouraged to trust in themselves and act on their own accord.

Taking into consideration other people's views allows us to add many new ideas to our own. The ability to weigh these in their relevance to our lives can accelerate the process of learning and identifying positive and helpful outlooks.

Swimming with the crowd is a great time saver on some occasions.




But, for a satisfying, fulfilling life we need to know when and how to be our own agents.Each person is unique, with their own particular set of interests and passions. In order to discover these fully we need to know our own thoughts and feelings. Once we know who we are by what we think and feel, we can find a way to express this in our lives. This is the first and most important step to real success.