Can work be just as fun and leisure, asks Elda Choucair, managing director of PHD UAE
Work itself is my secret weapon. I see it as a sort of life rather than a Sunday-through-Thursday sort of dying. We often see work and leisure as opposites, but does it have to be that way? Can’t work be as enjoyable as leisure?
Purpose is what makes it a secret weapon. It makes me go to sleep every night looking forward to starting another day the next morning. Yes, there are mini-pleasures in routine; the morning coffee, the faces of people I value, the unexpected challenges that knock on my door, sometimes literally… but there is an underlying joy that comes out of this everyday life we call work. It’s the excitement you get from working towards a far-fetched goal, which sometimes feels like a race against time and sometimes like running on a treadmill.
The satisfaction, the fulfilment you feel when you get there, against all odds, is amazing. For a moment, you bask in the glory but then, you start all over again. You go back to the drawing board to set another goal, another far-fetched one, and start on another meaningful path. You have to love the journey just as much as the destination – it’s part of the exhilaration.
Steve Jobs explained this very well when he said: “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking.”
There are many young enthusiastic people in our industry. Most probably still wonder whether what they do makes them happy or not. Many of them are, but they don’t know it yet. If it gets the best out of you, gives you as much value as it takes from you, and helps you move forward, then look no further.
