“The one thing you need to know about sustained individual success: Discover what you don’t like doing and stop doing it.” —Marcus Buckingham, The One Thing You Need to Know

I read Paul's writeup a while ago and good stuff!

This post brings much inspiration to the rest of the day's grind. Thanks.

Here's my favorite econimic argument about this:

The whole reason for taking a job is to earn money to spend on things that make you happy. So if you've found a job that makes you happy, it's like getting paid more.

People who get paid more are usually willing to work longer and harder at their jobs. So if you are doing work you enjoy, you will work longer and harder at it. That will make the people you are working for---your boss or your clients---happier with the work you do.

It may be tempting to try to take a job that pays a lot of money even though you hate the work. The problem is, you'll be competing against other people who love the work and who are therefore willing to work longer and harder than you. The bosses and clients will like their work a lot more than yours, so you'll have a harder time earning money than if you did a job you enjoy.

Mark, I'm not so sure. I've seen work environments where people are pressured into staying longer, sort of to "prove they love their job", and that usually has the opposite effect on many and leads to frustration and burn outs. If I love my job, I will still go home on time because then I'll be excited to continue the next morning... and I will also not miss out on the other life that awaits me at home.

But yes, you're right of course that people would accept less pay if they love the job, and would only do certain jobs they hate if there's a lot of money in for them.