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Do What You Love Interview – Oliver Burkeman

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Author and journalist Oliver Burkeman wants us all to be happier. Or at least less unhappy. Or perhaps just happy-ish if that’s more realistic. Each week in the column he writes for The Guardian, This Column Will Change Your Life, Oliver explores ideas around social psychology, self-help culture, productivity and the science of happiness. 

For his latest book, The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking, he spoke with psychologists, Buddhists, New Age Dreamers, hard-headed business consultants and other experts to figure out what does work when it comes to being happy. He discovered that what they all have in common is a hunch about human psychology: that in our personal lives and the world at large, it’s our constant efforts to eliminate the negative – that cause us to feel anxious, insecure and unhappy. And that there is an alternative “negative path” to happiness and success that involves embracing the things we spend our lives trying to avoid.

So, with a fresh new year ahead of us, and our minds open to new ways of thinking, we caught up with Oliver to see what advice he could offer to help us be happier in 2015.

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Meet our experts…

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A few months ago we mentioned that we’d be bringing some new guest bloggers on board to share new and interesting perspectives on the subject of Doing What You Love… and here they are!

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The power and danger of labels

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Happy New Year! 2015 has dawned crisp and clear, with possibility of adventure and an outlook of hope. We wish you much happiness this year and challenge you to make it your best year yet!

This week we wrapped up our Winter Writing Workshop with the question ‘How does it feel to call yourself a writer?’ Sometimes giving yourself a label – even if it doesn’t quite fit yet – can be a really powerful way of helping you believe in yourself, whether that means calling yourself a writer, an artist, an athlete or whatever.

Passion labels can be motivating and confidence-inspiring. But career labels can be dangerous. Here’s why.

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New Year Happier You. Begin today.

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A new year brings a sense of new beginnings, of possibility, of the chance to start afresh. So what kind of a year will you make it this year?

What if 2015 was the year that you became a happier version of yourself? What would that look like, and what would be different? What would have to change to become that version of yourself?

In our community of tens of thousands of people spread across the world, this is a question that has been asked many, many times. Often the answer lies in a few small but important decisions.

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New Year, Braver You. Begin today.

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I’m going to let you into a secret. I’m afraid every single day. I’m afraid something is going to happen to someone I love. I’m afraid I’ll make some big mistake with the technology we use in our business. I’m afraid I’ll say something stupid, or forget something important (can I still claim baby brain after a year?)

Sometimes I’m afraid I’m not making the most of every single second of my precious life.

But – and this is a big ‘but’ – that doesn’t mean I’m not brave. I see those things I am afraid of as indicators of what is important to me. They are like flags, pointing out what I care about – people, professionalism in my business, good communication, making the most of life.

Instead of being paralysed by that fear, I use it as fuel to drive me forward – to learn more, make better choices, grow my team with specialists who know more than me, use my time more wisely, both day-to-day and across the years.

Sometimes I use it to dare myself, to just start that conversion, make that call, try that thing out.

And you can do the same, starting today.

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New Year, Richer You. Begin today.

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A lot of people tell us that they want to do what they love, but they can’t because of a lack of money. But when we dig down into it, money is rarely the problem. The issue is usually (1) a perception of how much it takes (too much) or how much they have (not enough), or (2) a fear of not knowing their financial reality if they take a leap from something they know, to something new.

The fact is, security as we know it has all but evaporated in the past few years. Jobs for life don’t exist any more. People are being made redundant left, right and centre from ‘professional careers’. Pension pots are shrinking, and the future is more uncertain than ever.

What if it was actually more secure to do your own thing? To take control of your time, of the way you earn money, of the people you spend time with, in where you live, and how you work?

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New Year, New You. Begin today.

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‘New year, new you’ must be the most over-used phrase in the world of magazine headlines, but there is a very good reason for that. The beginning of a new year can be a watershed. ‘Next year’ becomes ‘this year’. The time is now. If you had a bad year, that is now in the past. If you had a great year, you can step it up a level and make this one even better.

A new year is like a gift. It’s a chance to start again, and to tell yourself you have the power to decide how this year pans out. What will you do? Where will you go? Who will you spend time with? Who will you avoid? How will you behave differently so things work out differently? What different choices will you make? What will you tell yourself about what could be possible for you? And what steps will you take to make that happen?

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What does 2015 hold for you?

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Over the next five days we are sharing our thoughts on making 2015 the year you become a more brave, more confident, richer, happier version of yourself. Check back daily for this inspiration and a tiny daily challenge, or jump on our mailing list (no spam!) to have them delivered directly to your inbox.

Thank you 2014, you were quite a year. 2015, we are ready.