I have heard a lot of people telling me that the happiest of people are those that do what they love. It always seemed to make a lot of sense that people were happier when they spent most of their day doing what they enjoyed but off late I have been giving this idea a serious thought.

My primary question about this would be “How do you define ‘what you love to do’?”
Sounds like a silly question but answering it by saying “You just know” seems both vague and incorrect.

Personally I believe that if you perform a task regularly and voluntarily then it qualifies to be nominated for the job you love. If you continue to perform the task despite it not being financially(or otherwise) rewarding it gets a few more plus points. If you continue to perform the task even if you have to pay (financially or otherwise) to do it then you probably love doing the task. But what about the tasks that you enjoy doing and are pretty good at to make it rewarding for you… I guess your love for a task is not necessarily dependent on the rewards.

Most work is associated with a certain set of expected results. I believe its when the rewards of the work transcends what is expected that you begin to love what you do.

I know a lot of people that do professionally what they say they love to do. They seem like a happy bunch of people but I have seen that over time the additional rewards slowly begin to lose priority. Thats when you just lose the drive to do tasks, I believe its a phase of falling out of love. This can lead to a direct desire to move away from the work you cherished; a sabbatical or a break. Or it leads to a desire to seek the satisfaction else where. After a while the basic benefits of the work do not satisfy the thirst for change and excitement.

I guess like in love between people, love for work needs a certain spiritual connection to keep the fire burning… I guess that is why people invented vacations.