Find What You Love

Confucius (and others) is quoted as saying, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” What is it about that statement that has endured and fascinated humans through the millennia? It stokes a hope and aspiration in all of us. We long to find that sweet spot in our work to experience a fulfilling and successful career.

This topic came up in a discussion with some tax managers when we talked about the idea of doing what you love. One of the managers remarked how he really enjoyed doing tax returns. Then he added that it sometimes made it difficult to delegate, which is a required skill of a manager. He asked, “Why would I let someone else do what I enjoy so much?” I noticed some of the others nod their heads in understanding his dilemma.

Know What You Love

This is an inquiry that many managers and partners struggle with. Rather than just explain why it was important to delegate (which he already knew), we asked him what it is about doing tax returns that he found so enjoyable. After a bit of discussion, we discovered that what he really enjoyed was experiencing his progress toward mastery. Being able to complete and review the return and figure out how to do it successfully motivated him to want to do it even more. For him, the tax return is simply the vehicle through which he experiences the joy of mastery.

Interestingly, other managers weighed in about what they found rewarding when completing tax returns. One admitted that she loved organizing the data to be efficient. Another said she really liked the challenge of finding ways of reducing the client’s tax burden. Yet another acknowledged the sense of achievement when crossing another one off the list. All of these “loves” are captured in doing tax returns, but for different reasons.

It became evident that the real struggle isn’t with delegation. It’s discovering the opportunities to apply what they love to higher value activities. For instance, the experience of mastery will motivate one to a deep level of technical competence. For another, it’s enjoying the relationship with clients as the trusted advisor. For another, it’s the reward of working projects and engagements efficiently.

Practice What You Love

In this case, tax returns are the vehicles to do what they love. Hopefully, by knowing their real love, they can apply it to higher value work. That’s what makes the insight of Confucius so powerful.

The lesson for all of us is to find what we really love and apply it to higher value activities. Do what you love and get paid for it because it is valuable. What could be better? Confucius was right after all.