- The line, “if a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly,” is not an excuse for poor efforts. It is perhaps an excuse for poor results.
Hubski, what do you think is worth doing?
Saw this Chesterton quote in a 2003 race report from the 50-miler I am looking forward to surviving next month.A man must love a thing very much if he not only practices it without any hope of fame and money, but even practices it without any hope of doing it well.
That quote makes me feel good about surviving and maybe even loving my five mile runs.
You should do things that you enjoy. Find a way to get payed for it. This makes the self-actualization process much more accessible. Whenever possible, try to focus on things that challenge you physically, mentally, and socially. Basically, treat life like an RPG. Try to max out your character, but have fun along the way. Make others happy. Be at least decent, always, no matter how bad of a day you're having. Develop a manner that is enjoyable to be around.
Me too but now that I see it I don't know how to reply, all I could have said was already said.
I'm not sure how much I agree with the general sentiment that raising children is better undertaken by the amateur ( or parent ). Sometimes kids get stuck with really shitty parents and I feel bad that they don't get the same kind of start to life. I guess I'm more of the " it takes a village" kind. I do think the parents should have an active role but professionals do a great job helping out. Having said that I currently think baking bread is worth doing. I'm certainly not a professional but I just finished a cheese loaf and it's surprisingly good. Having fresh bread is worth the few loafs I completely mess up ( like last night's )
I like the definition of amateur here. Someone that does something for the love of it and not for remuneration. Also, the reverence for organists. Much of what I do is worth doing except for this huge chunk of my life that I call my day job.
Lots of assumptions there. What's the opportunity cost of it? That answer will vary person to person. There's also more than monetary value to consider.
Well, yeah, I mean if we want to get philosophical about it you're absolutely right. I think that's part of the reason why people tell others at a young age to find jobs that involve something they love, it makes work a lot more bearable. On the other end of the spectrum though, I could see myself doing a job I hate for maybe ten years if it paid well enough that I could build up quite a bit of reserve cash. Come ten years and a day though? Bye guys. I'm off to find myself an adventure. I do agree though. I just recently left a job that paid very well, especially for a person with no college degree, because the stress was just too much. It was wearing me down, starting to affect my marriage, and all the time I was too exhausted from work to really enjoy life on my time off. It was painful and stupid and just not worth it. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
I always found the " find something you love" advice overwhelming when being told it as a teenager. I liked a new thing evey other week and was just figuring out what I wanted to do. I went into school for something I liked at first until I sat there one day realizing the idea of me sitting at a desk all day is laughable. I think any advice is overwhelming at that age though. Now I'll tell people to figure out the life they want then find a career that works with that since so many people pick career then work a life around that instead but that would have been equally overwhelming at that age. Picking a career in high school is just dreadful.