The Importance and Art of Doing What You Love
Nadia stared at her computer screen at 3 AM, exhausted from twelve hours of work. She was wondering when the last time was she had felt genuinely excited about anything. Did she forget about the small pleasures in life? Did she forget about the joy that comes with doing what you love?
The next morning, instead of rushing to her demanding job, she stopped by an art supply store. Twenty minutes later, she sat in the park sketching morning light through trees. For the first time in months, she felt alive.
This moment taught Nadia something profound: sometimes the most sophisticated wellness strategies pale in comparison to doing what you love. Are you doing what you love in your daily life? What do you love to do that could transform your everyday experience? Understanding how to be happy often starts with this simple principle, and happiness in life flourishes when we regularly engage in what brings us genuine joy. The truth is, doing what you love isn’t just a luxury. It’s essential for well-being. Therefore, in this blog post, we will address the art and the benefits of doing something you love.
The Science Behind Happiness: Beyond Doing What You Love
While doing what you love remains one of the most powerful paths to fulfillment, research has identified numerous evidence-based techniques for enhancing well-being:
- Gratitude practices – Daily appreciation exercises that rewire the brain for positivity. Learn more about gratitude for happiness.
- Meditation and mindfulness – Present-moment awareness that reduces stress and increases joy. Learn about mindfulness for happiness and how to meditate properly.
- Quality sleep – The foundation of emotional regulation and mental clarity. Learn how to sleep better naturally.
- Regular exercise – Natural mood boosters through endorphin release. Read more about exercise for happiness.
- Strong social connections – Relationships that provide meaning and support. Discover more about the importance of socialization.
- Acts of kindness – Giving behaviors that create lasting happiness. Read more about kindness for happiness.
- Savoring experiences – Intentional appreciation of positive moments. Learn more about how to practice savoring.
- Goal setting and achievement – Progress toward meaningful objectives. Learn more about the art and benefits of reaching goals.
- Nature exposure – Time outdoors that restores mental energy. Read more about the importance of finding happiness in nature.
Yet among all these sophisticated approaches, there exists one beautifully simple truth: taking time to do whatever you truly love creates immediate and lasting joy. This isn’t mere indulgence. Instead, it’s a fundamental human need. How to be happy often begins with the basic understanding that happiness in life flourishes when you answer this simple question: What do you love to do most? Learning how to do what you love becomes a cornerstone of authentic well-being.
The Benefits of Doing What You Love
The benefits of doing something you love extend far beyond momentary pleasure. When you engage in activities that genuinely fulfill you, your entire nervous system shifts into flow and ease. Stress hormones decrease while feel-good neurotransmitters flood your system, creating natural highs no external substance can replicate.
Research shows that people who regularly engage in beloved activities demonstrate higher creativity, resilience, and life satisfaction. The benefits of doing something you love ripple outward, touching every corner of existence. These individuals report better relationships, improved work performance, and enhanced physical health, proving that happiness in life isn’t just about feeling good, but functioning at your best.
When you prioritize joyful activities, you’re investing in your capacity to show up fully for others. A person who knows how to be happy naturally radiates that energy, inspiring everyone around them. Are you doing what you love enough to experience these transformative benefits? Understanding how to do what you love becomes crucial for maximizing these positive effects.
Moreover, the benefits of doing something you love help you discover unique gifts and talents. These activities reveal hidden aspects of your personality that might otherwise remain dormant. The confidence and skills developed through passionate pursuit translate into other life areas, creating positive momentum that accelerates personal growth. This is why the benefits of doing something you love extend so far beyond the activity itself.
This Week’s Challenge: How to Do What You Love Daily
This week’s happiness challenge is elegantly simple yet profoundly transformative. Commit to doing at least one activity you truly enjoy for at least 30 minutes every single day. This isn’t about cramming another obligation into your schedule. It’s about reclaiming time for activities that make your soul come alive.
The key lies in your approach to each activity. Rather than multitasking or letting your mind wander, commit to being fully present. Immerse yourself completely in the experience, savoring every sensation, emotion, and moment of joy that arises.
Whether you choose to dance, paint, garden, read, cook, or simply sit in nature, approach your chosen activity with reverence. Notice how your body feels as you engage in something you love. Observe subtle shifts in your energy and mood. Pay attention to how this dedicated time affects the rest of your day.
This practice teaches you that happiness in life isn’t something that happens to you. It’s something you actively create through conscious choices. When you consistently prioritize what brings joy, you’re training your brain to recognize positive experiences throughout your day. This is how to be happy through purposeful daily action, and it’s a fundamental aspect of how to do what you love successfully.
“Somebody should tell us, right at the START of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might LIVE life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it! I say. Whatever you WANT to do, do it NOW! There are only so many tomorrows.” – Michael Landon Jr.
Four Ways to Approach This Challenge
Embrace Life’s Simple and Grand Pleasures
Begin by reflecting on what truly brings you joy in life. Allow yourself to appreciate small delights, such as morning coffee warmth, rain sounds on windows, and soft fabric against skin. These micro-moments of pleasure are equally important as grand experiences because they teach you to find happiness in the present moment.
Don’t hesitate to reach for magnificent experiences either. You were created to enjoy life’s most extraordinary blessings: deep love in all forms, profound gratitude, and unshakeable zest for living. You are meant to be the star of your own life story, not a supporting character waiting for permission to shine.
Consider what activities make you feel most alive and authentic. These might be creative pursuits, physical challenges, intellectual explorations, or spiritual practices. The key is recognizing that you deserve regular joy, not just during special occasions. Are you doing what you love often enough to feel this aliveness consistently? What do you love to do that you’ve been postponing? This is where happiness in life begins – with honest self-reflection about your authentic desires.
Explore and Nurture Your Passions
Take time to examine your deepest passions. Perhaps you feel drawn to exploring new horizons, connecting with nature, celebrating existence itself, embracing freedom, expressing yourself through song or dance, or nurturing growth through gardening. What ignites that spark of excitement within you? What do you love to do that makes time disappear?
Ask yourself: How can you create more time and space for these passions? What would it look like to prioritize things that truly matter to you? Consider new passions you might discover or develop further. Sometimes we limit ourselves by thinking our interests are fixed, but passion can be cultivated throughout our lives. Are you doing what you love in ways that honor these deeper callings? Learning how to do what you love means understanding these passionate connections.
The cultivation of passion requires both courage and practical action. It means saying no to draining activities so you can say yes to what energizes you. It means investing time, resources, and attention into pursuits that make you feel most like yourself.
Remember that passion isn’t always about career or major life changes. Sometimes it’s about dedicating fifteen minutes each morning to writing poetry, or spending Saturday afternoons learning a new language, or finally taking that dance class you’ve been considering.
Examine Your Relationship with Work
Consider your current work situation honestly. Do you genuinely enjoy what you do for a living? Do you arrive home with a full soul or an empty tank? How much do you truly enjoy your daily work experience? Are you doing what you love professionally, or just earning a paycheck?
If your answer reveals dissatisfaction, don’t despair. Instead, consider it valuable information. Many inspiring individuals have discovered dream careers later in life, with some pursuing entirely new educational paths in their sixties to achieve their vision. The time you spend working represents a significant portion of your life, making your relationship with work crucial to overall happiness in life. This is a critical aspect of how to be happy that many people overlook.
This doesn’t necessarily mean you need to quit your job tomorrow, but it does mean you should seriously consider what changes might be possible. Could you modify your current role to align better with your interests? Might you transition gradually into a field that excites you? Could you develop skills in areas you’re passionate about?
Even if major career changes aren’t immediately feasible, you can often find ways to incorporate more of what you love into your work life. The goal is to feel energized and fulfilled by how you spend working hours, not merely to endure them.
Learn more about how to be happy at work.
Define Yourself Through Your Loves
Rather than defining yourself (and your roles in life) solely through relationships with others (as someone’s child, parent, partner, friend, or employee), consider defining yourself through what you genuinely love. Perhaps you’re a lover of the ocean, mountains, honesty, courage, music, nature, books, or ideas.
Personally, I identify as a lover of love itself, family, psychology, nature, travel, photography, films, leisurely Sundays, dance, animals, and the sea. I believe these loves define me more authentically than my earthly roles in relationships with others, though those relationships are precious too.
When you think about yourself and your life, don’t just ask what you need to do as someone’s child or partner. Those roles often involve decisions made by others. Instead, ask what you want to do as a lover of music, nature, or whatever calls to your heart. This perspective shifts you from reactive to proactive, from obligated to inspired.
Each day, make an effort to honor at least one of these core loves. Dedicate time to developing and expressing these aspects of your identity. This practice helps you stay connected to your authentic self while navigating daily demands and expectations. What do you love to do that reflects these deeper aspects of who you are? How to be happy often involves aligning your daily actions with these authentic loves. This is a key principle in how to do what you love authentically.
Anna’s Story: Rediscovering Your Authentic Self
Anna is a friend I’ve known since elementary school. She was always one of the sunniest, happiest people I’ve ever known. She had many hobbies, but most of all she loved to dance. She would really light up whenever she danced, explaining that there’s something about the combination of good music and physical movement that makes her feel alive.
She would find every opportunity to dance, at parties or simply at home, all throughout elementary school, high school, and even college, despite juggling many demands. She would define herself as a dancer. Anna is a brilliant woman who now has a successful medical career, a handsome husband, a beautiful family, and a lovely home. But she’s lost her spark.
She became consumed with her physical roles in life: a doctor for nine hours daily, a mother for six hours, and a wife for two hours. While everything looked perfect on paper, she just wasn’t the joyful being she used to be. So I asked her: “You’re devoting tremendous time to your three most important roles. How much time do you spend nurturing the role that used to be so important – a dancer?”
“Zero,” she replied with disappointment. I encouraged her to start dancing again. Just fifteen to thirty minutes in her kitchen or living room, whenever she could carve out time. Her eyes sparked at the idea.
With her busy schedule, she couldn’t find alone time, but she created a ritual of dancing with her family before dinner. They started with ten minutes, and as they all loved it so much, they now dance for thirty minutes daily. Anna is transformed. After years of following rules and doing what had to be done, she feels alive again.
Reflection
Maybe there’s a lesson in this story for you, too. Are you doing what you love enough to maintain your authentic spark?
Creating Your Personal Happiness Toolkit
One of the most practical outcomes of this week’s challenge is creating a comprehensive list of activities and places that consistently bring you joy. Think of this as your personal happiness toolkit – a resource you can turn to whenever you need an extra boost of well-being.
Your list might include simple activities like taking warm baths, calling a dear friend, watching sunrise or sunset, listening to specific songs that lift your spirits, or preparing your favorite meal. It could feature more involved pursuits like visiting particular locations that restore your energy, engaging in creative projects, or practicing skills that challenge and fulfill you.
The key is specificity. Instead of writing “exercise,” note exactly which types of movement bring you joy. Rather than “spending time with people,” identify which relationships energize you and what activities you most enjoy sharing with them. This detailed approach ensures you can access genuine happiness quickly when you need it most.
Keep this list easily accessible and update it regularly as you discover new sources of joy. Notice that what brings you happiness may change over time, and that’s perfectly natural. The important thing is maintaining awareness of what currently serves your well-being and making time for these activities consistently. Are you doing what you love regularly enough to build a comprehensive happiness toolkit? This ongoing practice becomes essential for sustained happiness in life.
Email me at carmen@4happyu.com for your own personalized happiness menu. 😉
Conclusion: Your Journey to Authentic Happiness
The art of doing what you love is ultimately about honoring your authentic self in a world that often encourages conformity. It’s about recognizing that your happiness isn’t a luxury to be earned through suffering, but a fundamental aspect of human thriving that benefits everyone around you.
This week’s challenge offers you permission to prioritize what brings you alive, to create space for activities that nourish your spirit, and to build a sustainable practice of joy. The benefits of doing something you love extend far beyond the activity itself, creating positive ripples that transform your relationships, work, health, and overall sense of purpose.
Remember that learning how to be happy is a skill that develops with practice. Each time you choose to do what you love, you’re strengthening your capacity for joy and building a life that reflects your deepest values. You’re also modeling for others what it looks like to live authentically and courageously. Happiness in life becomes not just personal fulfillment, but a contribution to collective well-being. This is the ultimate expression of doing what you love.
As you embark on this week of dedicated joy-seeking, be gentle with yourself and curious about what emerges. Trust that your desires for happiness and fulfillment are essential guidance from your wisest self. The world needs people who know how to access and share their joy – people like you who are brave enough to do what they love.
Taking That Extra Step
If you find yourself struggling to identify what brings you joy or need support in overcoming obstacles to happiness, consider that positive psychology coaching can provide personalized strategies to help you build a more fulfilling life. Sometimes having a skilled guide can accelerate your journey toward authentic happiness.
Your happiness matters. Your joy is a gift to the world. Start today by asking yourself: What do you love to do? Then go do it, with full presence and appreciation for the miracle of being alive in this moment, capable of creating beauty and meaning through the simple act of following what calls to your heart.
Resources
The information in this article is grounded in scientific research. If you’re interested in specific studies, feel free to reach out to us.
For daily doses of joy, positivity, inspiration, and motivation, be sure to follow us on Instagram.
Za naše bralce v Sloveniji
Če vas zanima več o psihoterapiji in iskanju trajne sreče, preberite naslednje članke: Psihoterapija Obala, 5 ključev do trajne sreče in notranjega miru, Najboljši psihoterapevti v Sloveniji: Kako se hitro spopasti s stresom, Psiholog v Kopru: Kako odpraviti težave s psihoterapijo in RTT terapijo, in Psihoterapija Online: Prednosti in učinkovitost terapije na daljavo.
