I try to apply this advice to all aspects of my life. Excel at something every single day. This can be anything ranging from work to fun. I try to push myself a bit harder than I want to in at least one thing a day. Some days this means I workout extra hard and other days this means that I give that little bit extra in my work. There are even days where I would say I focus on excelling at being lazy. And when that is my aim, you better believe it that I do it really well!

More than anything, just be aware of your aim. Know where your motivation falls that day–maybe you are extra-motivated to clean or you want to get some reading done. Just be aware of what you are doing and be proud that you are putting this little bit of extra effort into some part of your life. Continue to change it up. If today you give that bit extra in work, maybe tomorrow pamper yourself a little bit more.

By excelling in different aspects of your life, it will give you a sense of accomplishment and you will expand upon your overall happiness.

To Smile.

Sure, when we set off for college at 18 years old, we thought we knew it all. I had the misconceived notion that a political science major could get me a well paying job. Despite getting great grades, working, studying abroad and being a member of every club, finding a job was not easy.

And once I finally did start to follow the political science career path at a non-profit, I realized that the actual daily requirements of this major wasn’t what I was interested in doing. My parents had often warned me away from my major, but they led by the parenting technique of to live and to learn. I learned the hard way that political science was not a lucrative career, even in Washington D.C.

Why did I love political science? Because I got to read tons of history, formulate an opinion and then got to write them down. Did I actually care about current politics? Not unless they had some sort of dramatic twist to them–say North Korea aim nucs at another country. I liked the juicy political problems but was bored to death with things like elections (except when they got dirty) and policy. Well, when you work in D.C., the boring details make up your job description.

What I should have done was think about the fundamental things that I loved about political science and then applied them against the things I love in life to help guide me towards a better job. One way to do this is to think about the few instances where you felt your actual job overlapped with your dreams. For me, this would be spending time researching a topic and then being able to craft a written piece, which did occur at times when I worked at the non-profit. Another thing I enjoyed doing was researching ways to help a doctor’s office that I was working for to become more profitable. Finally, I always liked being in my own private space and being in control of my time….as much as I thought I was, I’m not a team player.

I should have noticed the things I liked the most were definitely researching and writing….and more importantly, about topics I had at least some sort of a vested interest in. Do I think life would have been any easier or more successful if I had gone to college and gotten a journalism degree? Probably not.

As my parents would say, We Live, We Learn. My happiness was based in the fundamental concepts of research and writing. Too bad they didn’t make college more simple and simple created a degree in research. I would have excelled.

To Smile

I have come to believe that the most essential aspects of happiness in the work environment are having respect for the people you work with and excitement or passion for the product. I think this holds true no matter what you do; it doesn’t matter if you work for yourself or for a company of thousands.

If you respect the work ethic of your boss and those around you, this will always motivate you to work harder. While with my writing, I rarely ‘know’ my boss, when I tutor I do work directly for the owner of the company. He has a great work ethic and is the type of boss that always makes sure his employees know he appreciates them. I have worked for plenty of people that have made me feel like I could easily be replaced tomorrow and it is a nice change feeling appreciated. It only motivates me to work harder.

To be happy with your daily work, you truly need to care about the product that you are selling, what ever it may be. For me, it is writing and tutoring. I know that I have a direct impact on the grades and education that my kids get. I take this very seriously and my reward is watching their grades and scores improve. When it comes to my writing, when I get to write about topics that I adore, I am extra motivated. I work extra hours and it doesn’t even feel like work.

I have been working for myself for 9 months now and I have come to the conclusion that these are the two most important aspects of being happy at a job. It isn’t about how much you make, at least not for me. It isn’t about having great hours. It is respecting who I work with and believing in the product I am creating. For me, this is the most important criteria for a happy work life.

To Smile.

When working for yourself, you really need to embrace the days when you are ultra productive. These days may occur weekly or they may be few and far between, but when they occur, you have to recognize them and take advantage of them. In my experience, I have learned that lazy, slow days are much more the norm. Yet, when you are your own boss, being lazy essentially costs you money.

So when the mood hits that you are brimming with productivity, simply let it flow. I have learned that I cannot limit myself to 9-5 hours due to this specific reason. This Sunday I felt driven to work on some projects that I am stewing up and today I had a writing quota that I hit a little before 5. Sure, I could have allowed myself to take it easy, go for a walk, head to yoga or simply veg out on the sofa, but my brain was still motivated to work. Instead of taking the easy road, I decided to harness this motivation and run with it. On Sunday, I spent several hours dedicated to creating a project that may take months to pay off. Today, I decided to keep working until Justin was heading home from work. I managed to get several extra articles written.

All of this gives me a little bit of buffer room for those days when I feel sick or just simply don’t want to work as hard. I have learned that working harder when I am motivated helps to offset those sick days that would usually make me feel guilty for skipping out on work.

Unlike when working for a corporation, when you are your own boss you typically don’t earn the same weekly paycheck week in and week out. But the risk of earning less one week is offset by the reward of earning extra another week.

To Smile.

Apologies and please ignore!

After leaving the corporate world, I had to give up the happy hours and bi-hourly chats with coworkers. Part of me was sad to lose the social aspect of work when I decided to call my house my office, but in all honesty, I have never been a big social butterfly. Yet, in the working world, there is some reassurance having someone just feet away that you can go complain to or to chat with to help release some steam. I don’t have that anymore yet somehow I don’t get all that lonely.

Unlike what I expected, days actually go quite quickly when you work for yourself. It is amazing how hours can simply disappear without any interruptions. I remember when I was researching and writing my master’s thesis that I could work in Virginia Tech’s Emporium for nearly 8 hours straight. I was amazed by this concept yet I have come to decide this is simply how I work. I can research and write for hours on end, especially if it is a topic I enjoy. Hours simply fly by without me being fully aware. The only things that snap me out of my writing cloud is a growling stomach or an alarm for a tutoring session.

So when I got an email around 10:30 this morning from one of my girlfriends asking if I wanted to do lunch, I had a moment of hesitation. My money hungry side stated that this wasn’t a good financial decision but my heart and brain craved a little social hour. I no longer get working lunches, so it was a nice escape. It ended up being three of us and it was just a brief hour of chatting over sandwiches. It further reminded me that while I could have earned some extra money during that hour, my soul felt fulfilled in a way that money could never do.

To Smile.

I have heard that working out is supposed to help ignite the creative juices in the brain and I definitely think that is true. I feel like most of my good ideas come while I am out on a run, underwater on a swim or spinning the wheels on a bike. This happened today while I was on the treadmill. I came up with an idea that will take a few months of work on my part but I think it could turn out to be a good financial decision that makes me happy while still challenging me.

One thing that I constantly do with my writing career is think of new ways to make money. I am not comfortable sitting back and hoping that the same projects are available for me. Instead, I keep trying to think of new topics I want to write or new places I would like to write for.

What keeps me motivated or driven is that I think of what I love the most in life and then I try to figure out how I can make money doing those things. For me, my passions are professional cycling, fitness, travel and food. I continuously keep these concepts as my anchor and just keep reaching out from those directions. And guess what, it works. I continue to grow in these fields and I continue to be happy in the writing I do. Sure, there are days where I have to go write topics that I don’t really enjoy just to make money, but those are definitely much less frequent than they used to be. For the last few weeks, I have been hired to write articles and websites on these topics and I have never had to go find work. Work found me….work that I love found me.

But because I know next week could be different, I continue to seek of new places to write for and come up with new ideas that will allow for me to make money through my writing. I guess the most basic way I could explain it is to never settle.

To Smile.