Vacations don’t have to be about getting away from work. Seth Godin has said “Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from.” I think that’s a terrible way to think about vacations and work. Sure, I get what he’s saying that you should be doing what you love so you don’t feel the need to escape. Or even set up your life so you can work, travel and live anywhere you want. Come on, we all can’t do that. We have family, friends, clients and people who need us here. 

No matter how much I love what I do, I like to step away from that and take a breath. I enjoy traveling and would love to do it more if I was somehow independently wealthy. But those vacations aren’t about escape, at least not for me. Those vacations allow me to not just re-charge but also gain new experiences that will influence my life. They also remind me why I’m doing what I’m doing and how much I love it… how much I need to get back at it and keep working. Life isn’t all about work, even if you enjoy your work, you need to shake up your routine every once in a while. Sometimes getting away from the desk is that change in perspective that you needed for your next creative breakthrough. 

So don’t feel bad if you’re thinking about planning a vacation or taking some time off. A week or two here and there isn’t going to put a huge dent in your overall goal. 

The advice that everyone likes to tell you is to do what you love. On the surface it’s great advice. What you do as a job will fill a large part of your time and life. So if you love baking at home for your family then why not quit the job you don’t find fulfilling and start a bakery? You’d love it that much more if you were doing it full time, right? But if you start a business doing what you love there is a good chance you might end up loving to hate it. That passion you once had can quickly grow into hate. You changed that fun thing you loved and made it a job. The joy you had can be lost when you’re spending a good amount of time dealing with paperwork and trying to make customers and clients happy. Maybe you realize you loved baking because it was an escape from your other job. Now you have no escape or hobby because this is what is paying your bills. And while starting this new business you found a new love for photography and you decide to give up baking and start a photography business. Now the cycle starts over… never quite happy because you are always discovering new and exciting things.

There are a lot of things I love to do but I don’t want to make it my job because I know I could grow to hate it. One way I’ve been able to keep my passion for what I’m doing is to focus on loving what I’m doing. Embracing and appreciating what I’m doing at this very moment. I may not always like every thing I have to do but I’ve learned that even the parts I may not like at the moment are all parts of the bigger piece. In building a business you can get bogged down in a lot of other duties that take time away from your true love for a little while. This can frustrate you and make you regret doing what you love. I’ve learned to accept that each part of my business is important. I took this career path because I wanted to do what I love; motion graphics. But I now I’ve found that I love what I do; I love building a business. My passion has grown and evolved, its not just based in creating motion graphics but its also in creating a business. You never know what path your life is going to take you down and you might find something you love doing that surprises you.

Another way I’ve found to stay focused on my passion is to hire someone to handle the parts of my business that I don’t like doing. For many, the moment they aren’t doing the the thing they love to do they are going to start to hate that very thing they loved in the first place. If you don’t like talking to clients or customers then hire someone that does so you can stay focused on what you love doing and together you can build something great. The only way to do great work is to love what you do.

Make sure that if you do what you love that you also try to love what you do. Every day is a gift and we don’t get to do it over again.

To be great at anything you have to want to do it and work hard at it. Could you see yourself doing this everyday for the rest of your life? The moment you aren’t 100% behind what you’re doing that’s when you begin to slip up. You start making mistakes, cutting corners and just not giving it your all. Sure we all need a break at time to recharge or refocus. But to really be great at what you do you need to love it so much you live it and sleep it. Why? Because just like in a race the moment you hesitate you are going to loose, someone else is right there behind you to take the lead. As Gary Vaynerchuck says “pump out content.. if you don’t… you’ll be out hustled.”

Face it this field moves quickly and it’s always pushing you to be creative at every turn. It can be overwhelming and stressful but at the same time exciting and full of possibilities. Seeing your work on television or in magazines is always wonderful and is a nice reward for doing something you love. Hopefully you went into motion graphics or design because you do indeed love doing it. This is something you should try and remember everyday, it isn’t just a job it’s a job you really enjoy. The passion and determination you demonstrate will likely come with success. Just try not to stress yourself along the way. Success will only come if you keep learning, creating and just don’t give up. Just because you run into an issue with a certain job don’t let that freak you out. Each and every project should deliver a range of new challenges that you can learn from. If you want to be the best designer you need to set a goal and then put in the hours to get there. Get knee deep in it and read books and do tutorials. But don’t worry if you are not meeting the goal you have set sooner or later if you put in the time, things will just click and you will be cranking out quality work to the level you had been working towards.