Jonathan Van Ness is a superstar and you can find him at these links –
https://twitter.com/jvn
https://www.instagram.com/jvn
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/getting-curious-with-jonathan-van-ness/id1068563276?mt=2


 

 

Transcript –

Hello my friends! Welcome back to This Quote Changed My Life – my podcast about taking inspired action from the quotes that have truly resonated with us. My name is Tracey and I’m a Wellness Coach based in Australia. Thank you so much for joining me for a fresh new episode of the podcast!

I am so excited about this quote today but first a little bit of a back story

Who else grew up watching the original Queer Eye guys? You know, Carson and Ted and Kyan and Kai and Thom? Yeah? So when my sister and I heard that there was a new version of Queer Eye coming out a couple of years ago, we were skeptical of course. I mean, would it live up to the original? Well, YES. YES it did and of course my sister became the biggest Jonathan Van Ness fan in Australia. Who doesn’t love him? Anyway, for her birthday I got her his book Over The Top which was autographed by the one and only JVN. But for Christmas she did one better, and got us both a meet and greet ticket AND front row seats to his Sydney show a couple of weeks ago! I know. Crazy.

So I’ll try and cut to the chase here – Jonathan is as lovely as you see on tv. Very gentle and kind energy, and his show Road To Beijing was so good. Loved it, really funny but also so insightful – he’s a really smart person. But at the end of the show – and this is where the QUOTE of the week comes in – he said something really memorable to me. And it was something that I really needed to hear, and to harness.

The quote was –

Work Hard. Do what you love.

I’ll put the video and his full quote up on my website (makesunshine.org) but that was the part that got me. And sure, I’ve heard this allll before – literally 39 podcast episodes in and years of coaching women and girls to be themselves – but that night, those words were what I needed to hear.

Do what you love.

The part of me that loves the simplicity of that sentence, is the part that keeps thinking about the END point. That I had to set a grand goal, and I need to be focused on that goal, and the goal is important, and the goal cannot be changed. The big problem with that is this – I am not that goal, yet. I have not earnt that goal, yet. I have not learned everything to achieve that goal yet, and that goal could be a while away. The even bigger problem is the frustration and the pressure that I built up inside myself – because all I was focused on was the end goal.

I had been forgetting the lessons to be learned along the way.
I had been forgetting what I truly loved to do.
I had forgotten what it was like to PLAY and to be present in the moment.

Do what you love.

So while my end goal is something that I know I will love – end goals change. End goals can morph into something more wonderful and fufilling that we could ever dream. Which is what Jonathan said in that video I’ll post. His goal was never to be an international stand up comedian gymnast. No, he followed his love of hairstyling and look what it brought him.

Work hard doing the things you love.
Be productive, not busy, which the things that give you joy.

Even if those things are not bringing you money right now – I think it’s important to know you can still do them. I know most of us don’t have the luxury of doing whatever we want, no consequences on our finances or family situations. There is still always going to be a level of responsibility you have to yourself and others to not put your wellbeing at risk. But at the same time, if it’s something you love doing, money shouldn’t be the reason why you never do it anymore. Everyone needs a passion. Everyone needs that part of them expressed in a way that’s healthy and satisfying.

You were not put on this earth to be like everyone else.

Work hard. Do what you love.
Work hard TO do what you love.
Do what you love because you matter.
Work hard because you know you’re worth it.

Much love to you all today – I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s quote from the very awesome Jonathan Van Ness. I will leave all kinds of links to Jonathan and to my website in the show notes – stop by my blog at makesunshine.org to let me know what you think of this week’s quote and to see the video from the show!

I will speak to you guys next week when I talk about spending your time wisely.

Have a great week.