Bear with me here. It seems like I have to learn this every few months, but this time I’m going to write it down so carefully that I won’t forget. Probably. Anyway, I play table tennis at our local club most Wednesday nights. I learned (again) tonight that there nothing quite so powerful as playing joyfully.
Now, of course, joy cannot make up for lack of skill. You need the skill. But fear ratchets your skill level down two or three notches. When you do anything out of fear, you instantly turn the tables on yourself, and your opponent has the advantage.
Joy, or enjoyment, takes away fear. But not only does it take away fear and doubt, it also brings with it the confidence necessary to play with evenness and at the peak of your skill. You get the most out of your skill when you can play with confidence and enjoyment.
I used to confuse enjoyment with relaxation. They’re not the same. Coaches always say to a player who is afraid, “Relax!” But they should be saying, “Enjoy it!”
There is another level that I’ll call recklessness, which is playing with enjoyment untempered by care. Someone who doesn’t care can never produce anything of quality. When you’re enjoying doing something with care, you’re going to see your highest quality come out. Enjoyment is what allows you to be content with your progress and care is what makes you strive to improve.
Fear of failure, love of money, seeking prestige: all of these can also be motivators, but they’re inferior to joy and care. When you find joy in your work, whatever it is, you will have found your reason to be, and nothing is stronger than that. I think this is what Emerson meant when he said “The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.”
It’s the same in computer programming as it is with sewing as it is with cooking. Actually, it’s the same with just being. Those who find joy in what they do (and who they are), and care about what they do (and who they are), will be ever improving, and will always find satisfaction and produce the highest quality work they are capable of.