Are you doing what you want to be doing?

I knew today was going to be a hard day.

This morning I made the official announcement that one of my passion projects, a Gracie Jiu Jitsu club I opened in 2014, would be closing down. I sent out an email to all members and parents informing them of the news, and then made that post public. I knew I would be letting some folks down and that I would find it hard to do so. What I didn’t expect was how it would affect me personally.

As I read the article which was the inspiration for the opening quote of that post, I found the emotions become too much for me to handle. As I wrote the post it happened again and each time I’ve read it I find my self feeling sad. It’s been a struggle to focus on work or anything else other than a few small tasks I’ll complete today.

The upside is that each time I see the quote, mostly commenting on the associated Facebook post, I am less sad about the choice I made. I am less sad because it was the right choice to make for me and my personal situation. Often the right choices are the hardest.

So why blog about it here? Well I’ve often in the past blogged about what’s happening in my personal life, mainly as a form of catharsis but also as a way to share the news with anyone who cares. I’m not someone who lives his life in the public space, but from the 1st of May I’ll no longer attach the title ‘Gracie Jiu Jitsu instructor’ and some might wonder why.

Mostly it’s about sharing the news on a platform I manage where I can put it out on social media for folks to find out and avoid any future ‘are you still running your club’ questions.

But I’ve also realised it has something to do with choices we make in life and in business, how this has really helped me understand that the right move at the wrong time, is the wrong move, and how this effects the path we follow when it comes to work and personal life.

If you’re sitting on the fence about a hard decision in your life, be it in your personal or business life, I speak from experience that to keep doing something well after your interest or passion for it has waned, just because you don’t want to let others down, is going to end up eating away at your soul. If you find yourself hating something, often it’s better to figure out how to remove yourself from that situation than to worry about how others may perceive your so-called ‘failure’.

Being able to get up every morning and know that whatever is ahead of you for that day is what you WANT to be doing, not what you HAVE to be doing, is worth all the money or fame in the world.