The statement–scratch that; it’s more like a promise–I read and hear a lot is “If you love your job you’ll never work a day in your life.” This is utter nonsense. I hate to burst your bubble but it’s BS. When your hobby becomes your job, it becomes just that–a job. And like any job, it will contain aspects you don’t like, let alone love. (People who make this statement are typically pursuing their dream job, not working it, yet; hence, they haven’t made this realization, yet.)

I hated booking comedy gigs. Hated it. I had to call agents or bookers, then recall them at the time they told me to call, then had to call again because they weren’t around at the time they told me to call, then I had to re-book gigs they cancelled, then I had to… It was a laborious process. I loved performing, though; making people laugh and meeting them after the show. It was spectacular and I lived for it.

I hated dealing with vendors, haggling the prices over boxer shorts, t-shirts, and key chains, then calling the last vendor I spoke to about the better deal I was just offered, to see if he would come in lower. I loved selling these items after shows, though; signing them for fans and getting lots of money.

I love helping others achieve their goals. I dislike marketing, though; however, if I don’t market my works and site, I can’t reach people to share my knowledge and experiences that help them achieve their goals.

Be prepared–your dream job is a job. It will have aspects you don’t like. I find when people don’t accept this, it is much harder for them to land their dream job. This is because, just like a guy who believes a beautiful woman is way out of his league, the job gets put on a pedestal and the dreamer “ooh’s” and “ahh’s,” instead of going after the job. Just like the guy pining away for the woman, he becomes too flustered; baffled about how to approach the matter. The job becomes more and more a dream and less and less a job, making it unattainable.

A key step to having your dream job is to recognize it’s a job. A great way to do this is to hang out and talk with people who have your dream job. I realized early in comedy, my dream job, was a job because I engaged in conversation with professional comedians when I did open mics. This got me thinking more about the job aspects and less about the dream aspects, unlike many open-mikers who hung together, separate from the professionals. While they kept dreaming, I implemented my plan to live the dream because I learned about the aspects of the job while shaking off the aspects of the dream.

I cannot emphasize this enough: Your dream job will require you to work, just like any other job. Realize this and you are far more likely to land your dream job than you are if you don’t realize it. 

Media reminder: I will be on WGN TV Morning News next Tuesday, Feb. 9, around 7:50-8AM. Fun morning crew! I always have fun with them.

Next: Principles – 5 Questions to Determine

The real cause of the Late Night wars? NBC affiliates news shows are so bad, they’re not worth changing the channel to watch. Instead of making the good choice to make their news worth watching and drawing viewers, they make the bad choice of relying on lead-in programming for viewership, giving up real control of their programming. This is why a change in NBC national programming impacts their viewership so much. Never try to control things you can’t, like your national broadcaster, in this case; that’s a bad choice. Instead, control what you can, in this case the quality of your own news.