Enter the contest, share what you love. Be happy.

Are you doing what you love? Do you love what you do? Have you gotten the T-Shirt to let the world know?

Through The Great Todaymade Do What You Love T-Shirt Giveaway, we’ve been finding out how people love what they do and do what they love. Each week they’ve shared their stories with us, and by doing that, they get a chance to win a free T-Shirt for letting everyone know this is for real.

Using the responses collected in the T-Shirt Giveaway contest, we’ve pulled together four common principles followed by people who do what they love.

Love To Make A Difference

I LOVE being a teacher. Everyday is a new adventure into the world of learning. My greatest successes have been the successes of my students each and every day. I really couldn’t ask for a better career. — Lindsey R.

We all want to make a positive difference in the lives of others. We want what we’re doing to matter in the grand scheme of things. Maybe we love what we do because it does just that: it makes a difference in the lives of others. What we do changes lives for the better. The work might be challenging, but the result more than makes up for it. And that makes it less about a job and more about a calling.

Love To Reach Excellence

I love pleasing my clients! Nothing I like more then calling them after an event and hearing how great everything went and how wonderful my staff is!! — Kelly L.

Taking pleasure in a job well-done, in excellent workmanship, and in earned success is extremely satisfying. This is especially so when we can share the success with people who mean a lot to us. Taking pleasure in the success of those around you — your co-workers, your staff — is a decision. We decide to share the goodwill, and make that a source of joy. The team above the individual, all for excellent work.

Love To Spread Happiness

I love helping people create memories… I get to see people having a terrible day become happy. I get to see people toast to new friendships, new relationships, new business deals, and new beginnings. I get to see people celebrate each other…[I get to] make sure the people we’re serving leave with a smile on their face…Without question, I LOVE what I do! — Jonathan H.

We want to bring joy to the lives of others. In doing so, we bring it to our own. There’s never such a thing as too much laughter, too many smiles, and too many good memories. There’s no quota on those things, and if we can foster more of it, that’s a worthy cause indeed.

Love To Create

I love to make stuff. — Claudine G.

Making things, and stretching our creativity, bring joy to a lot of people. Not everyone has the artistic version of creativity, but in some sense, we all like to be able to step back and say “I made that.” Whether it’s art, business, software, writing, music, products, concepts — we feel more fulfilled creating than consuming.

Doing What You Love Is A Decision

Loving what we do seems to be about 20 percent career and 80 percent state of mind. Some work environments are crushing. But, whatever the situation, we still have the power to decide on what our attitude will be, what changes we’ll make in ourselves, and what changes we might make in our career.

We all need to know we’re needed and have value. We want to feel purpose to what we are doing. We want to create. We want to be part of a group and feel like we belong to something greater than ourselves. We all want to make a difference in other’s lives. Nearly every career has the potential for someone to love it, but not every career is right for every personality.

You can do what you love, and love what you do, either right where you’re at, or by taking a chance and trying something scary and new. We have the real-life stories, and the T-shirts, to prove it. Enter our contest and share your story. Be inspired, inspire others, and take a chance on winning a free T-shirt.