“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”

Erin says she learned this from he father, Barry, when she was twenty years old.  Her father told it to her when she was confused about what she should make her focus of study at the University of Michigan.  She was a sophomore at the time and did not know exactly what she should do with her life.  When she asked her father for advice, all he said was, “choose a field you love, then you will never end up working a day in your life.”  She truly took it to heart when she studied communications and is now working as a producer for a leading advertising agency.

This proverb is very important to her.  She says it is her favorite proverb as it helped lead her to the life that she is living today.  She wrote it on a sheet of paper that she carries around with her in her purse daily.

She said the context in which this proverb is typically used is when someone is at a crossroads in their life.  Most of the time, it is directed toward college students who do not know what career to pursue.  Some sort of an advisor, often a parent or mentor, will tell them this proverb.  She says it is very important to choose a job that you love or else you will be miserable every day during work and will be “counting the hours to the weekend.”

I believe this proverb presents a very important idea.  It is critical for everyone to enter a field in which they love what they are doing or will end up being unhappy with the state of your life.  The only problem is that the world puts too much emphasis on income, which ends up causing many individuals to choose a job based on a high salary instead of worrying whether or not they love what they will be doing in that job.

I found this proverb at: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ptm/bizquote.htm