Dave Kashen argues that work can feel like play when it aligns with your zone of genius. Most tasks can be enjoyable except unavoidable ones like taxes. The key is designing a life where work and play feel equally fulfilling.
I can't just play all the time. So how do I know when, when I should work or it's good for the business? And I want to bust all of that open. Say, like, what if your whole life felt like play and the things that you happen to do that create value for other people and therefore money for you are at— you enjoy as much as the things that don't, right? Like for me, you know, a really rich, powerful coaching conversation or group facilitation where people are just in this, like, experiencing tremendous shifts, or a day of powder skiing. Like, those are roughly equivalent experiences for me. And again, I wanna just stand for like, that's possible, right? This is the upper limit. That's possible. So there's like a precursor to your question, which is, are you doing quote unquote work that you love, that's in, and we'll get it, that's in your zone of genius, in which case those questions don't really occur to you the same way of like, because I think what is implicit in your question is, yeah, but isn't there stuff that I have to just suffer through to make my business successful? And yeah, maybe 10, 20% of the time there's like, like tax stuff like I talked about. But I want to stand for, you know, a world where people are like loving what they do. So they're like, oh my God, I can't wait to go do this thing, which happens to be quote unquote work-related. And I can't wait to go do this thing, which feels more like skiing or play.
