The 3 of You

Typically when I hear people talk about their work its from one perspective (i.e, I do this, but love that...) which made me think, when it comes to work there are actually three yous:

1. What you do for work

2. What you are good at/passionate about

3. The romantic idea of you

I suspect its rare for any of us to operate from all three places. For example, here are my three:

1. What I do... I am a designer

2. What I love... business development

3. Romantic idea of myself... either a software developer or a Tomato Farmer (depending on the day).

Upon reflection I realized the dangers of You #1 and #3! Even if you are reasonably good at what you do, I suspect You #1 leads to boredom. And I presume You #3 leads to the poor-house because romance alone is never a practical guide... ergo, I will never be a good tomato farmer. Although You #3 probably makes for some great adventures!

You #2 is the most logical and attainable because if you love it, you can become good at it and make money at it.

But this raises the question, which you do you follow?

Comments

[Matthew Cornell]

Well #2 is the interesting one, isn't it? Connecting love and the economic engine is the hard part - has been for decades...

[Liza]

Very true, #2 while logical, is not as easy as it looks. Until recently, I didn't even realize there was a #3 (romantic idea of oneself). And then it struck me, on our path to #2 (what we love) how often do we find ourselves at #3?

And can we even separate the two?