If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life

“They say if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life.  Is this not a responsibility for all of us to find, that thing that we love? I am guilty of not having a 5 year plan.  I have always said that of course I have dreams and ambitions, but having a 5 year plan makes me live in the future and I miss out on so much in the now.   I know there are many business coaches that will crucify me for this, so please forgive me. It works for me.

I get up every morning, and I am excited about something that is happening at my office.  We have tremendous staff and we all get along like a house on fire.  It is always an exciting feeling to think I get to come to the Elim house everyday. There is always something new and exciting waiting for me.

As long as I have this feeling, I will continue with Elim.  The day I get bored, I will find something that tickles my interest and make a career change. Somehow I don’t think that will happen.

I think we owe it to ourselves to find that button deep inside ourselves, that when you push it, you get that excited feeling.

For me it is being creative.  I love creating new products, new concepts, new packaging, I love travelling and seeing new places.

I am such a peoples person. I love friends.  There is nothing more enjoyable than to sit and have coffee with clients. This I don’t see as networking or work, it is what I truly love doing, every day. Of course it wasn’t always like this and Elim has a long journey. I had to sit at festivals, doing heel treatments on smelly feet nearly 2 decades ago.  I had to stay up late and pack boxes and this was not stimulating or enjoyable for me, but I knew it would get me to a place where I could do the stuff I really love.

We owe it to the next generation to teach them this. It takes hard work and dedication to get to that comfortable place.  Sometimes we have to stay committed to the now to be able to see that perfect euphoric place in the future where we will do what we love.

Is this not what it means when they say you should work on your business and not in it?

Maybe elevate yourself today and rise above the “stuff”.  Get out and dream about what it is you truly love doing.

I suppose if you are working in an office and you love gardening, start doing something on the side, start selling seedlings, just start somewhere.

I think we all owe this to ourselves.

Create a space around you for your fellow staff members where you can inspire them to do the same.  We need a world where we shouldn’t hate what we do for 11 months of the year just to recover for 3 weeks in December and then go back to a jail for the mind.

You might also like: The business success story of Shantelle Long Booysen

Today when collegues look at me it seems like I handle things pretty well. Most of the time, life at Elim runs smoothly. Let me give you a peak on how I got to a place where I could all handle the stress.

I use to be that obsessed student who would not fall asleep if I wasn’t prepared for my next day.  Everything had to be perfect.

Life takes its toll and in my 20’s I developed a whole range of anxiety symptoms.  I suffered from asthma and hyper ventilation for a while, I scratched my scalp at night, I grind my teeth and eventually had my gall bladder removed from all the stress and anxiety, because in my world life had to be perfect

Often if it meant that I worked Saturday and Sunday.

After my last operation a retired psychologist gave met this advice.  I still follow it today.

He said, Shantelle you need to give yourself an hour every day, a day every week and a month every year, if you do this the body will train itself to handle the everyday stresses and it will learn to expect the rest you give it.

Even if you watch a soap opera and have a glass of wine which is for most people not the healthy alternative, do something you truly love for one hour in a day.  For me it might be reading, for another it might be gardening or playing an instrument, or doing yoga or gym.  Do that thing you love, and then do the same thing one day a week and plan the holiday well in advance every year and do it for at least 3 weeks.

If you teach your body that it can expect the rest, you will be amazed at how well it will handle the stress everyday.

If you can not do 3 weeks, at least start with the daily routine, and if that is too hard, do it 3 times a week.  Just start somewhere to allow yourself some enjoyment.  We all deserve a great life.”

From the desk of Shantelle Booysen CEO of Elim Spa Products