There is a quote from the movie Little Miss Sunshine that has always stuck with me, though I’ve realized its impracticality over the years. “Do What you Love and F*** the Rest.” If only it were that easy.
If I didn’t have to work, didn’t have a house to care for, didn’t have mouths to feed, and didn’t have a million other responsibilities that come with just being alive, I’d probably spend all my time doing the things I love doing; hiking, sewing, listening to music, painting, taking photos and going on road trips. But, the reality is that I do have to work and I do have responsibilities that come before my desires and dreams. So how do I find time to do all these necessary things while still finding time for what I love?
If you’re lucky (and I mean incredibly lucky) you may find a way to make an income off doing the things you love. The reality for most though is that we have to find time to fit in hobbies outside our 9 to 5. And honestly, that can be really hard.
For that reason, I wanted to share some of the ways I have been able to fit more of what I love into my life. Nothing in this post will tell you to quit your job for your passion project. In fact, it will do the exact opposite. Here you’ll find tips and advice on how you can still work, still handle all your responsibilities, but also find time to do what you love.
Start Small
Fitting more of what you love into your life does not mean trying to fit in time for your hobbies every single day. That is just not realistic, and frankly, it would be pretty exhausting.
It helps to start small. For example, I love sewing. So instead of trying to finish an entire project in a week, working on it every day, I just try to complete one step of the project each week. Sometimes if I have more spare time in a week, I’ll do more, but having these small manageable time slots helps keep me from feeling overwhelmed and allows me to easily fit it into my schedule.
Set Goals
It takes determination and discipline to do what you love. For this reason, I think it’s fitting to set yourself goals to work towards doing more of what you love.
It’s important to note that the goals should be realistic and have clear deadlines. If you love running your goal shouldn’t be to run a marathon the day after you start training for one.
I love hiking and naturally that led me to want to try backpacking. So a few years ago I set myself the goal that I wanted to go on one, one-night backpacking trip before the end of summer. It was realistic because it meant setting aside just one weekend within 3 months and I already had fairly novice hiking experience. It also had a definitive timeline to push me to achieve it within that timeframe. I find these goals keep me accountable for what I tell myself I want to do vs. what I am making the time to do.
Be Selfish + Don’t Care What Others Think
You should be doing what you love simply because you love doing it. You will find the most joy in truly loving what you do rather than trying to fit yourself and your interests into a box. Additionally, your hobbies are one thing you likely have the most control over. Your career and other facets of your life may be controlled by external factors, but doing what you love is your choice.
I had a lot of hesitations about starting a blog simply because I was concerned about what other people would think. But at the end of the day, I’m doing this because I love writing and I love sharing stories of my adventures. You should do what you love for you, and you only.
Go Easy on Yourself
Something to remember is that you don’t have to be good at the things you like doing. If painting makes you feel relaxed, and fulfilled and brings you all the joy in the world, but you’re not very good at it – so what? If you enjoy taking photos, but you’ve seen photographers out there with better shots than you – who cares? You are doing these things simply because you love doing them, not to be the best or make a profit off what you do.
There is so much pressure to monetize hobbies or to be the best at everything. This is where all of that should go out the window. You will find the most joy and satisfaction in doing things just because you like doing them.
Recap
While it would be nice to simply “Do what you love and F*** the Rest,” life doesn’t always work that way. However, I hope with these steps, you will be able to see how easy it can be to do start doing more of what you love.
