Member-only story
Doing What You Love vs. Loving What You Do
Rethinking the narrative about career and life goals
When I was a kid, it was clear to me that my father really disliked his job. Aside from the many nights he didn’t see me before I went to bed — and the early mornings when I woke up and he was already gone — he would also explicitly tell me that he hated his job.
His dislike for his job became a sort of rallying cry between the two of us. After all, his father (my grandfather) hated his job as well. I came from generations of men with jobs they hated. As I approached college age, my father would advise me not to repeat these mistakes. He urged me to find what I love to do, and never settle for another line of work.
And to an extent, that made sense. As the old adage goes: do what you love, and you never work a day in your life.
But as I got older, and a few of my dreams slipped away from me, I was forced to look at things from a slightly different angle than the one that my father had shown me.
The Aim of a Life
In Vedic philosophy, there is a concept called Puruṣārtha. It translates as “object of pursuit” — but may people use it to talk about the purpose of life in general. According to this idea, there are four elements that make up a complete…
