Kay:
Hey there, Questers! And, welcome to Episode 121 of The Mentorship Quest! We’re stoked to have you here with us today, because we’ve got a great quote for you from Ms. Maya Angelou!
Shi:
Ohhh – always a good quote giver! She says, “You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you.”
Kay:
Ooh, what a fantastic quote! Which also goes directly against some advice that Shila and I often give…because we both feel there’s this misconception around the idea of…
Kay & Shi:
“Do what you love and the money will follow” *(Laughter)*
Shi:
A lot of people say that, and you can understand the sentiment behind it. And, we certainly understand as well! But, the reason that we take offense with statements like this is because even if you do what you love and the money will follow, and you never work a day in your life, there’s still a lot of hard *BLEEP* that you have to do that sucks, and is not very fun…
Kay:
Yup! I mean, even Maya Angelou in this quote, says, “You can only become truly accomplished at something that you love.” So, she’s not necessarily talking about accomplishment from success as in money – or success as in cars – or a lover – or whatever that material success looks like to you personally. She’s talking about truly accomplished, which is a very personal definition…
Shi:
Right? I mean, this is Maya Angelou we’re talking about. So, she chose every one of these words very intentionally and ensured that they were true to her persona. And, she paints such a beautiful picture with this quote. The main message being: love what you do. But, she doesn’t just tell you to love what you do. She says, “You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you.” I mean, what amazing imagery that is! It paints such a beautiful picture for us to really bring this idea of “love what you do” into action.
Kay:
Well, I think many of us look at something that we love doing, and then we say, “Well, they say to do what you love and the money will follow. Right?” And so, we get out there and we start doing the things that we love, but we also have bills to pay. And, there’s also this financial side of things that has to keep flowing for your life at the same time. And so, she says here don’t make money your goal. So, if you say, “Well, my most favorite thing in the world to do is play the ukulele. And that is my favorite thing to do! And, then, you say, “So I’m going to go out and make money doing the ukulele!” THAT would be a case of you making money your goal, not playing the ukulele…
Shi:
Right! And then, you end up resenting the very thing that you love the most!
Kay:
You almost bastardize it!
Shi:
Exactly. And, you CAN go be a famous, well-paid ukulele player. You know, as you were talking, I was thinking about some of the things that I love, like reading, doing puzzles, and watching TV. And, you can actually make money off of all three of those things, but it’s going to take this lifetime of dedication as well as doing the things you don’t love – like filling out the paperwork, signing up for the competitions, being really bad at it, and doing it for free for a long time…And so, then, if you end up resting the hat of, “I have to make a living on this thing that I love”, we end up, once again, bastardizing it, or just hating it, because money becomes an unnecessary part of that equation and takes away from the love part!
Kay:
Yeah! Well, money is not the greatest motivator for when things are really, super HARD. You know, purpose will get you out of bed in the morning. But, money? Not always! In fact, there are some people who are making a little bit less on unemployment amidst this COVID pandemic, but are happier because they’re not going to work. And, I’ve heard people say, “Well, I’ll just keep all my unemployment and keep doing this, because I’m happier, and I’m more balanced, and I’m doing better this way.” And, that was even about making money by going to their jobs! And that’s not even enough to get people out of bed in the morning! And so, it’s gotta be something really filled with purpose and passion. But, if you can tie that money up to it, when things get tough, the money won’t get you going.
Shi:
Yeah! You’ve got to have more reason than that, and more passion than that, because money is a tough motivator for those times when you’re feeling defeated, and when you’re feeling down. You know, we talk a lot about failure and how you have to overcome that. But, oftentimes, failure is kind of disguised as this apathy, and as this feeling of being defeated, and victimized. And, ultimately, trying to chase that dollar bill is hard to put against those feelings in comparison, especially when they feel so raw. So, to remind you of today’s quote, before we wrap up here, Maya Angelou tells us, “You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you.”
Kay:
SO – your quest today is to: Do one thing that you love. If you love to dance, then go dance to a song. If you love to tumble, go do a handstand! Maybe drink a smoothie – make a batch of brownies – but do something that you love, today! Are you ready?
Kay & Shi:
Let’s quest!
