The latest episode was inspired by a quote from Percy Bysshe Shelley. He once said, “the soul’s joy lies in doing”. This, of course, can mean many things and in this episode, I elaborate what this means to me and the importance to find joy in what you do on a daily basis. The soul’s joy lies in doing can mean many different things. It definitely depends on where you want to emphasise on and what strikes you as important. Also, it depends on how literal you want to look at it. When I read the quote my first thoughts went into the direction of doing something and on top of that something, it ought to bring you lasting joy in the process. That’s what I focused on during the episode and will continue in the show notes below.
Fun Fact: Shelley, sounds familiar, right?
Before we dig a little deeper, a little fun fact about Percy: If you are into English literature or poetic writing you might know of him. In case you haven’t, I am sure you have heard of his wife. She wrote one of the most famous stories out there. Her name is Mary Shelley, the other of the Modern Prometheus better known as Frankenstein. If you are ever in the area of Darmstadt in Germany I recommend visiting castle Frankenstein (that’s where Mary is said to get the inspiration for the story). It’s a fun place to visit – not only around Halloween.
The Soul’s Joy Lies In Doing: When It’s Easy
Joy is commonly defined as a feeling of great pleasure and happiness. Both pleasure and happiness are of utmost importance when it comes to lasting intrinsic drive and motivation. If you have both it doesn’t matter what the task at hand is, you’ll have only little problem in getting it done. Let’s say you have dogs and you love them to pieces. Going for a walk with them, petting them, sharing time with them will be easy. Even on days when other things messed up your day, even on occasions when it feels more like a chore, you’ll have access to this intrinsic drive and motivation. You can use this to channel happiness and this feeling of joy. At least this is my strong belief.
The Soul’s Joy Lies In Doing: When It’s Hard
When things are easy it’s not a big deal to find lasting joy. That’s the beauty of chores that give you great pleasure and happiness. That being said, when things are getting difficult and hard we play a different game. Even if it’s something that gives you joy, you might be inclined to let it go, because it’s work and because it’s difficult. One of the reasons for those reactions in human beings is the fear of leaving your comfort zone. Being comfortable is easy, but it will lead you nowhere.
On the other hand, grinding through difficult tasks, days and events can result in unforeseen joy:
- out of fulfilment.
- from having done something new or hard.
- because you are one step closer to what truly makes you happy.
The Soul’s Joy Lies In Doing: Embrace The Grind
Let’s say you want to open your own business because you are sick and tired of how things are at your cubicle. You have a great idea and a place to start. One of the first things you will notice and learn is that the first momentum on days as an entrepreneur will be fun but rough. You don’t just open a business and sell your product. You will need to perform plenty of painful administrative tasks, negotiate with suppliers and producers. Work on your networking skills, need a way to figure out the finances, get a solid idea about your working capital needs and so on and so forth.
This can be very intimidating and scary. It is definitely hard work and not an easy peasy task.
And this is where true joy comes into the game. If your idea gives you truly intrinsic joy, none of this will matter. You will grind through it because it’s part of your quest as an entrepreneur (or whatever else it might be), it will be part of the joy itself, making it even better and bigger. In the end, the feeling of pleasure and happiness will add to its greatness because of the hardships. You will cherish it even more.
The Soul’s Joy Lies In Doing: Your Joy
I hope this resonates with you and that you enjoyed this episode and article. To wrap this up it would be great to get your feedback or your thoughts on this episode. Let me know what gives you joy and what you do to make it to this point.
If this was of value for you or you know someone who this could be of value, please share it with them. This is the main goal of my podcast. I want to be of service and create value. Your feedback helps me to move into a better direction.