Love What You Do

“If any man seeks greatness, let him forget greatness and ask for truth, and he will find both.”

~ Horace Mann

Do you ever wonder why you do what you do? Do you feel like you are in a dead end job? Feel like you are going nowhere? Are you doing what you love? Are you doing what you want to do? Are you doing what you were meant to do? Is your life segmented into who you are at work and who you are at home? Do you ever question “is this what I was meant to do” or have “I missed my purpose”?

Perhaps you think you have no purpose. Perhaps you think you have no hope of changing your situation and only think the idea of working at what you love is simply that, just an idea. I am here to tell you that maybe, just maybe, it’s your priorities that need to be changed in order to find your true purpose.

Where are your priorities? Are they focused on the things that truly matter to you or are your priorities focused so much on providing and getting by that doing what you truly love is on the back burner?

I know this is going to sound odd coming from a thirty something year old. But when I started my working career I hated what I was doing. I started out in graphic design at a magazine publishing company. I then moved to a University in technology and then to an international technology company that led me to working with rural Mississippi communities. When I finally figured out what I wanted to do, I had no clue what it was even called.

Only through truly assessing what makes me happy and putting my network to use did I come to find what I truly have a passion for and learned what I am good at. I know two things about myself with certainty. I love connecting people and mentoring to them and I love to tell stories. Through my own assessment and finding those two main focuses (among others) was I able to realize how much I love working with communities, working with people, growing business, telling a community’s story and sharing its heritage and culture. All of these things make up Community and Economic Development.

There is a story that one of my first bosses and mentors shared with me early on in my career. I have carried it with me through every job and transition I have had. I keep a laminated copy in my desk so that I always remember to keep my priorities in check.

The story is called “Do You Have Time for a Cup of Coffee”

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly, and the pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed again that it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up the rest of the space. He asked once more if the jar was full, and his students responded with a unanimous “yes.”

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the contents of both into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the grains of sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things - your family, children, health, friends and your favorite passions; things that, if everything else was lost and only they remained, would still make your life full.”

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else - the small stuff.

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “There is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.”

“Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children, take time to get medical checkups, take your partner out to dinner and play another 18 holes. 

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the leaky tap. Take care of the golf balls first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities, because the rest is just sand.”
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked. It goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem to be, that there’s always room for a cup of coffee with a friend.”
48 Days to the Work You Love by Dan Miller and Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi

Wherever you are in life, whether it is a dead end job or just a job you have taken to make ends meet. If you priorities aren’t aligned with your day to day tasks, stop what you are doing and reevaluate. Find what brings joy into your life. Find what allows you to focus on your priorities.

The new head of the Mississippi Development Authority, Brent Christenson, once said to me, and I am paraphrasing, If you can’t find a job [that you like] find a customer!

Now is a great time to find a side business and to align your priorities with your career. If you can’t find a job that lines up with your priorities and what you want to be when you grow up, go create it! If you love your idea so much that you can make it profitable full time, chances are someone will love it enough to pay for it.

There are two books that, I highly recommend to anyone looking to better their career, get more out of their current job or just find what their priorities are and makes them happy. Check them out and I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Here’s to your success at finding what your priorities are and loving what you do. I know that once those two things come together our community will be better off because of it.

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* This article was originally printed in the Sunday, October 21, 2012 issue of

The Chronicle's"Planting Seeds" column.