Do What Makes You Happy

“Do what makes you happy”. This is the advice I have been receiving frequently these days, from colleagues, friends, the pantry aunties. To which my reaction has always been to offer a smile that I hope conveys the myriad of emotions that simple advice elicits.

It is not that the jaded me doesn’t agree with this advice. It is that I have no idea how I could do that, not when I have always placed financial security and freedom ahead of happiness. I have stayed in jobs that sap the joy and life out of me, as the alternative of worrying about money fills me with a lot of fear. I suppose my rationing is better to stick with known suffering than to plunge into an uncertain future. I have taken up various courses with the sole objective of bettering my resume, even when I had not the tiniest bit of interest in what I was studying. I could just power through and cram those knowledge into my brain if it meant that recruiters are looking out for such skills. I have based many of life decisions on emotionless assessments of whether those decisions would lead to a better life, which more often than not, just means a more financially secure life.

I recognize it could be a flawed mentality, albeit a very realistic one that many others might share as well. When you have mouths to feed and bills to pay, being happy takes a backseat. In fact, there is always the vague thought that when I become financially secure, I could then do something I like and which makes me happy. But what does financial security look like to me? That benchmark keeps on changing and if I were to be honest with myself, maybe I might never feel financially secure. Not with burgeoning wants, lifestyle creep, and the mentality of more is better. So, delaying happiness till I achieve what I deem to be financial security is a very bad strategy.

In that case, can I do something that makes me happy while working towards financial freedom? That involves finding out what is the intersection of these 3 points: 1)What I am good at 2)What brings me joy 3)What the world needs. Point 1 is not that difficult, I would have an idea of where your skills or talent are based on past experiences or feedback received. Point 2 is slightly harder, as there is a tendency to mix up hedonistic pleasure with happiness. One way I use to distinguish the 2 is how I feel after bingeing on such activities. Do I feel empty and drained or do I feel satisfied and contented albeit tired. The last point is the hardest; what does the world need? Many of what the world needs is not even around yet, and being able to recognise that gap will give you a first mover advantage. Of course, I could always identify what is trending now and move into those fields, but I would be competing with many others who are also riding on the trend, in which case, I would have to build my unique value proposition.

None of these is easy, but many have done that, no reason why you or I cannot do it. Just gotta take the first step.