11 July 2007
Enjoy Your Hustle
I’ve realized lately just how important it is to keep a positive attitude and outlook regarding your work. Sometimes it can be really hard… maybe you’re knee deep in a project that you know isn’t going to pay off for awhile then you have a financial setback. Maybe you’re learning via trial and error and error seems to be the only result. The key is to remember that you’re spending your time trying to better yourself and your situation and not let setbacks have a negative effect on your attitude.
Right now I’m doing a lot of work in a space that is currently not super stable. I’ve both made and lost a lot of money in it in the past, and even though I know it’s the right thing to put time, money, and effort into, it can be a bit scary. When I combined that with the fact that I’m going to go back to school and still support my wife and (relatively) lavish lifestyle, I ended up feeling very pressured to achieve things and very frustrated when I couldn’t get them all done instantly.
I recently took a step back and realized how stupid that is. I was taking work I enjoyed and making it stressful. I thought about it some more and I realized that it’s never the work itself that makes you happy or sad, it’s the attitude you take in regards to it. If you buy the parts for a new computer, it’s very exciting to put it all together, install your OS, load up and personalize the machine. Chances are you’ll have fun doing it. However, if your hard drive crashes and you’re forced to do the same thing, chances are you won’t like it one bit. The difference is you performed one action out of a feeling of wanting to do it, and the other out of a feeling of obligation.
We’re all obligated to work and make money, but why not do it because we want to do it. I know that when I’m having fun with a project it goes much quicker and does much better than if I feel like it’s something I have to do. I think with the right attitude, you can enjoy any work. Hell, today I am doing some link building and generating keyword lists and I’m having a blast. Here are my tips for enjoying work:
1. Take Pride in Your Project
I think any time spent on the internets trying to make money online is time well spent. I think that what we do is more of an art than a job. Art is best when it’s inspired, not forced. Find projects that you want to do, then make a conscious decision that because you are going to be proud of the end result, you will enjoy every part of the building process.
In our fathers’ generation, we would have to build businesses with bricks, mortar, and lots of money. Now we can build them with nothing but thoughts and keystrokes. It is a beatiful thing and should be appreciated as such.
2. Amplify the Fun Stuff
Sometimes I try to be far too practical with my projects and my business. I try to focus on what’s going to make money and spend as little time/effort as possible on the rest. Sometimes this can really rob you of the fun of the project. What we sometimes fail to realize is that enjoyment and productivity are so directly related that we can increase productivity by doing some things that are ‘less productive.’ My personal example is that I am a stats junky, but I always tell myself that spending time or money developing stuff that I’m going to be the only person looking at is stupid. Then I realized that if my fancy stats motivate me just a little more to increase them, any investment I put towards them is sure to pay off. My resolution: a monitor dedicated to stats and some fancy schmancy graphs and flashy stuff to make me feel like I’m daytrading instead of marketing 
3. Love your Work Environment
This is also easy to overlook. I have both a home office and a real office, and I end up moving back and forth as I burn out on one place. The real office is kind of dreary and doesn’t get a bunch of light, but it’s around people and it gets me out of the house and dressed. My home office is set up perfectly for my tastes — it was an unfinished room in my basement that I finished and furnished to my specification. Sometimes if my sleep/work schedule gets too out of whack I go to the office… then promptly start enjoying my work a lot less.
At home my office has a wood floor, halogen lights, very light colored paint, nice leather furniture and decorations, and I can listen to music as loud as I want and dress however I want. As long as you’re responsible enough to remember that you’re still working, I think this type of environment can be way more conducive to productivity.
I may append this list later as I come up with more things. If you have any tips for enjoying your work, please post them as a comment.