{"id":104963,"date":"2023-06-11T13:10:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-11T17:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=104963"},"modified":"2023-06-13T14:21:28","modified_gmt":"2023-06-13T18:21:28","slug":"benefits-of-doing-what-you-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Benefits of Doing What You Love: Life in the Genius Zone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Does your mind tend to get stuck in negative places? Do you feel like you’re not really able to be yourself and thrive in your own way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gay Hendricks uses the term \u201cGenius Zone\u201d to refer to the mind-body space that you enter when two conditions are met: You\u2019re doing what you love to do, and you\u2019re using your skills to make a positive impact<\/a> in the world. This, he says, is where you should devote your time and attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continue reading to learn the three benefits of doing what you love and making a difference in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Benefits of Doing What You Love<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In Hendricks\u2019s view, striving to live in the Genius Zone offers a more fulfilling alternative to what might be your status quo: going through your daily life doing work that doesn\u2019t fulfill you, criticizing yourself for things you have or haven\u2019t done, worrying about things you can\u2019t change, and wishing that you could control what other people do or what they think of you. He writes that you\u2019ll become happier by stepping outside of these negative thought<\/strong> patterns <\/strong>and replacing them with efforts to spend your time and energy in the Genius Zone instead. Then you’ll start enjoying the benefits of doing what you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Reducing Negative Thoughts Improves Your Life<\/strong>

Just as Hendricks writes that reducing negative thoughts can help you live a happier life, other experts say that replacing negative thoughts<\/a> with positive ones can reduce stress and improve your health<\/a>, both of which could make you feel happier. Researchers find that people who practice positive thinking<\/a> have lower rates of depression, better psychological and physical well-being, reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer, and stronger coping skills.

These researchers recommend turning negative thinking patterns<\/a> into positive ones by identifying the areas of your life that you tend to think negatively about, evaluating your thoughts throughout the day, interacting regularly with positive people<\/a>, and making a rule that you\u2019ll treat yourself kindly\u2014which means that you won\u2019t say anything rude to yourself.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hendricks writes that spending your time in the Genius Zone has a number of benefits, both direct and indirect. He explains that, as you shift your focus to tasks that engage your genius<\/a>, you\u2019ll make changes that have two direct effects: You\u2019ll decrease the frequency of your negative thinking, and you\u2019ll increase your ability to access and express your creativity<\/strong>. Also, as an indirect result of the change in your thinking and behavior, you\u2019ll improve how you relate to other people. Next, we\u2019ll take a closer look at each of these benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: The benefits of living in the Genius Zone sound similar to the benefits of spending time in flow. In Ikigai<\/em><\/a>\u2014a book about the Japanese philosophy of finding your purpose<\/a> at the intersection of what you love, what you\u2019re good at, what you can get paid for, and what the world needs\u2014H\u00e9ctor Garc\u00eda and Francesc Miralles explain that learning to experience flow<\/a> can help you find your ikigai<\/a>. They note that when you experience flow, your mind is focused, you\u2019re living in the present, you feel confident and in control, and you feel led by the task rather than by your ego<\/a>. By integrating flow into your life as much as you can, you not only experience these short-term benefits, but you can also more readily access and fulfill your purpose<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benefit #1: You\u2019ll Curb Patterns of Negative Thinking<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The first benefit of doing what you love (living in the Genius Zone) involves reducing your negative thoughts. Hendricks writes that, every day, you have hundreds of opportunities to enter the Genius Zone, and each one comes to you through your tendency to worry about things you can\u2019t control<\/strong>. When you\u2019re thinking negatively about something outside of your control\u2014maybe something that happened in the past, or what other people think of you, or things you can\u2019t change about your circumstances\u2014you can either keep doing what you\u2019re doing, or you can let go of your negative thinking and self-criticism to engage your \u201cgenius\u201d instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Many experts say that it\u2019s common for people to dwell on things that they can\u2019t change, and they offer a variety of strategies for curbing this tendency. In Who Will Cry When You Die?<\/em><\/a>, Robin Sharma recommends trying to focus on things that you can improve<\/a> in the present or the future, rather than ruminating on things that happened in the past. For instance, instead of obsessing over a mistake you made, try to reframe it as a lesson, learn something from it, and then move your focus to something that\u2019s within your power to improve.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hendricks characterizes cycles of self-blame and self-criticism as addictions that sabotage you in the pursuit of your goals<\/strong>. When you redirect your attention away from the negative thoughts that you habitually think about yourself, then those thoughts have a way of receding into the background. He explains that this is much more effective than fighting negative thoughts, which just become more persistent the more you try to suppress them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Psychologists say that many of us internalize negative messages<\/a> that we then perpetuate as self-criticism. Both the habit and the content of self-criticism have negative effects and contribute to depression and anxiety<\/a>. Fortunately, you can kick even a persistent addiction to self-criticism: Practicing self-compassion<\/a> by treating yourself with care even in stressful situations can help. So can practicing techniques like mindfulness meditation<\/a> and loving-kindness meditation<\/a>, tools that are both proven to help reduce self-criticism.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benefit #2: You\u2019ll Gain More Access to Your Creativity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The second direct benefit of doing what you love (living in the Genius Zone) is learning to access your creative skills more readily. Hendricks writes that, to live your life in the Genius Zone, you have to commit to pursuing your full creative potential<\/strong>. By making this commitment (and following through on it), you\u2019ll spend more time exercising your creativity. You\u2019ll also learn to avoid the negative emotions and coping mechanisms that accompany the feeling of unfulfilled creative potential. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Nobody wants to feel creatively unfulfilled, but it\u2019s challenging to figure out how to practice<\/a> your creativity instead. In Keep Going<\/em><\/a>, Austin Kleon writes that it helps set the right goals for your creative pursuits<\/a>. You might feel accustomed to setting results-based goals, but Kleon advises setting process-based goals instead. He writes that process-based goals center the creative process<\/a> and the things you enjoy about it, in much the same way that cultivating flow is about focusing on the satisfaction you derive from the process. For example, instead of setting the goal of creating a YouTube video that gets viewed millions of times, you might set a goal of just making a video for a friend and enjoying the process of making it.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hendricks writes that, when people feel that their creativity is stifled or that they\u2019ve stalled, they compensate by developing various \u201caddictions\u201d to distract themselves<\/strong>. This might look like what we traditionally think of as addiction\u2014such as drinking or smoking\u2014but it could also manifest as another coping mechanism that helps you forget that you\u2019re feeling creatively unfulfilled. (Maybe you watch Netflix all evening instead of working on your own screenplay.) Hendricks notes that you probably always have time for these habits, even when you don\u2019t have time for creative pursuits. When you stop telling yourself you don\u2019t have time for your creative work, you can confront your sense of unfulfillment and recommit to pursuing what you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Though Hendricks uses the word \u201caddiction\u201d to describe distractions that become bad habits, other experts differentiate addictions as conscious behaviors that have negative consequences for your health<\/a>. When a behavior becomes a habit, you tend to engage in it automatically and subconsciously. But, an addiction is anything but subconscious: You spend increasing amounts of time thinking about and engaging with it. An actionable way to think about the ways you limit your creativity might be to look for the excuses you make: Experts say that when we make excuses to limit ourselves, it not only prevents us from achieving the task but also hurts our motivation.<\/a> So making excuses<\/a> might be the habit you want to break.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benefit #3: You\u2019ll Improve Your Relationships<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A benefit indirectly associated with doing what you love (living in the Genius Zone) is improving your relationships<\/a>. Hendricks writes that learning to let go of things that are outside of your control to pursue life in the Genius Zone can have profound effects on how you relate to others because you\u2019ll learn to accept other people as they are, without trying to control them or worrying about what they think of you. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, taking stock of how you\u2019re spending time can help you evaluate whether you\u2019re dedicating your time to relationships where you\u2019re appreciated for your creativity. Hendricks writes that many people dedicate significant time and energy to relationships that hold back their creativity. But if you want to spend more of your time in the Genius Zone, you\u2019ll need to cultivate the relationships that support your creativity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Most of us enjoy feeling that our time and skills are appreciated, but not all experts agree with Hendricks that we need to worry about feeling supported and appreciated. In The Courage to Be Disliked<\/em><\/a>, Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga write that happy people focus on helping others, and they feel satisfied when they contribute to others\u2019 well-being<\/a>. That means that they just need to feel useful, and they don\u2019t feel an emotional attachment to other people\u2019s opinions of them or their work. In this model, you might only need to feel that your creative pursuits are helping other people\u2014not necessarily that other people appreciate your creativity\u2014to feel fulfilled and happy.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Does your mind tend to get stuck in negative places? Do you feel like you’re not really able to be yourself and thrive in your own way? Gay Hendricks uses the term \u201cGenius Zone\u201d to refer to the mind-body space that you enter when two conditions are met: You\u2019re doing what you love to do, and you\u2019re using your skills to make a positive impact in the world. This, he says, is where you should devote your time and attention. Continue reading to learn the three benefits of doing what you love and making a difference in the process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":73767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,43,30],"tags":[1055],"class_list":["post-104963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career","category-self-improvement","category-work","tag-the-genius-zone","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\n3 Benefits of Doing What You Love: Life in the Genius Zone - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You're in the Genius Zone when you're doing what you love and making a difference in the process. Learn the benefits of living in this space.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"3 Benefits of Doing What You Love: Life in the Genius Zone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You're in the Genius Zone when you're doing what you love and making a difference in the process. Learn the benefits of living in this space.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-11T17:10:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-13T18:21:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/man-book-desk-working-office.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elizabeth Whitworth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elizabeth Whitworth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13\"},\"headline\":\"3 Benefits of Doing What You Love: Life in the Genius Zone\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-11T17:10:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-13T18:21:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/\"},\"wordCount\":1692,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/man-book-desk-working-office.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Genius Zone\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Career\",\"Self-Improvement\",\"Work\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/\",\"name\":\"3 Benefits of Doing What You Love: Life in the Genius Zone - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/man-book-desk-working-office.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-11T17:10:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-13T18:21:28+00:00\",\"description\":\"You're in the Genius Zone when you're doing what you love and making a difference in the process. Learn the benefits of living in this space.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/man-book-desk-working-office.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/man-book-desk-working-office.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"3 Benefits of Doing What You Love: Life in the Genius Zone\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World's Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13\",\"name\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\"},\"description\":\"Elizabeth has a lifelong love of books. She devours nonfiction, especially in the areas of history, theology, and philosophy. A switch to audiobooks has kindled her enjoyment of well-narrated fiction, particularly Victorian and early 20th-century works. She appreciates idea-driven books\u2014and a classic murder mystery now and then. Elizabeth has a Substack and is writing a book about what the Bible says about death and hell.\",\"sameAs\":[\"rina@shortform.com\"],\"award\":[\"Contributions to joint task force efforts (FBI)\",\"Contributions to Special Operations Division (DOJ & DEA)\",\"Efforts to fight the war on drugs (NSA)\",\"Contributions to Operation Storm Front (US Customs Service)\"],\"knowsAbout\":[\"History\",\"Theology\",\"Government\"],\"jobTitle\":\"Senior SEO Writer\",\"worksFor\":\"Shortform\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"3 Benefits of Doing What You Love: Life in the Genius Zone - Shortform Books","description":"You're in the Genius Zone when you're doing what you love and making a difference in the process. Learn the benefits of living in this space.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"3 Benefits of Doing What You Love: Life in the Genius Zone","og_description":"You're in the Genius Zone when you're doing what you love and making a difference in the process. Learn the benefits of living in this space.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2023-06-11T17:10:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-06-13T18:21:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/man-book-desk-working-office.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Elizabeth Whitworth","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elizabeth Whitworth","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/"},"author":{"name":"Elizabeth Whitworth","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13"},"headline":"3 Benefits of Doing What You Love: Life in the Genius Zone","datePublished":"2023-06-11T17:10:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-13T18:21:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/"},"wordCount":1692,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/man-book-desk-working-office.jpg","keywords":["The Genius Zone"],"articleSection":["Career","Self-Improvement","Work"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/","name":"3 Benefits of Doing What You Love: Life in the Genius Zone - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/man-book-desk-working-office.jpg","datePublished":"2023-06-11T17:10:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-13T18:21:28+00:00","description":"You're in the Genius Zone when you're doing what you love and making a difference in the process. Learn the benefits of living in this space.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/man-book-desk-working-office.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/man-book-desk-working-office.jpg","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-doing-what-you-love\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"3 Benefits of Doing What You Love: Life in the Genius Zone"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World's Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13","name":"Elizabeth Whitworth","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elizabeth Whitworth"},"description":"Elizabeth has a lifelong love of books. She devours nonfiction, especially in the areas of history, theology, and philosophy. A switch to audiobooks has kindled her enjoyment of well-narrated fiction, particularly Victorian and early 20th-century works. She appreciates idea-driven books\u2014and a classic murder mystery now and then. Elizabeth has a Substack and is writing a book about what the Bible says about death and hell.","sameAs":["rina@shortform.com"],"award":["Contributions to joint task force efforts (FBI)","Contributions to Special Operations Division (DOJ & DEA)","Efforts to fight the war on drugs (NSA)","Contributions to Operation Storm Front (US Customs Service)"],"knowsAbout":["History","Theology","Government"],"jobTitle":"Senior SEO Writer","worksFor":"Shortform","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/man-book-desk-working-office.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104963"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105015,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104963\/revisions\/105015"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}