It is not what you do for a living that matters...

It is not what you do for a living that matters, it is what you do with your living.

I recently gave a short speech regarding this topic and, since I love it so much, I want to share it with you too.

We usually spend the first and most productive part of our life building careers with focus, determination and commitment.

We are devoted to studying, acquiring new skills, embracing a company’s mission with faith and trust. Our experience grows while we accumulate one achievement after another; but, very often, we get to a point where we feel completely ungrounded.

This happened to me right after turning forty.

Suddenly, the career I was pursuing was not giving me the right vibes anymore. I felt disconnected from everything that filled my days…

The more I was doing and achieving, the less happy I was. 

I was giving too much space and energy to a single role, denying focus and time to other ways of expressing myself that were essential to me.

As a result, I wasn’t happy, even though I lacked nothing, absolutely nothing in terms of the "accessories of life."

Why do we end up in these bottlenecks? Because at some point we lose touch with what is really important to us and our choices allow us to be guided by what is considered conventionally and socially acceptable. Pursuing a professional career is one of these beliefs.

But is your career your deepest motivation and drive? Is that the reason you chose the work you do? Are you deeply motivated by power and money and increasing responsibilities?

If this is so you should be deeply excited and fulfilled every time you are assigned greater responsibilities and a better role.

In reality this does not apply to everyone.

There are people that, in growing professionally and in becoming more and more involved with their job and their career, start to feel uncomfortable because this is not their primary goal in life.

So what can you do if you are one of those people? You must find the courage to stop and regain clarity. You have to stop and figure out what creates flavour and meaning in your life.

You have to understand what truly motivates you, what you're passionate about, what really fulfills you.

And then you have to find the courage to choose it.

Even if that means changing your route, even if it means stopping and revaluating your profession, even if it means starting from scratch again.

Because it's really true: it is not what you do for a living that has the power to give you happiness, it is how you can fully express yourself through what you do that has the ability to fill you with a deep, authentic joy. 

Through my personal experience I have discovered that it is only through authenticity and integrity that we are able to shine in our full happiness.