There was a HBR article recently on HN regarding procrastination that touched upon this aspect.

If I recall correctly, it was saying that we don't need to feel any certain way about doing a task at hand because our emotions should not dictate our (in)action. Recognizing that your emotional self is blocking you from starting an activity just because it isn't pleasurable (ie: don't feel like it), is crucial for those who suffer from this cognitive dissonance, myself included.

Hell, it got me on the treadmill and now running every morning is more habit/routine than anything. I don't even question exercising the way I did before, now it's only asking myself if I either exercised today or not. Starting up running again was only hard because I was stuck in some sort of negative feedback loop of imagining the physical pain of running and justifying the "time lost" in terms of work productivity.

I wish I internalized this process sooner, it's life changing if you let it be.

Agreed. It's likelier that you'll grow to love what you do than you'll wake up one morning feeling like you want to do something that you love.

My theory is this: People like Steve Jobs, etc say "do what you love" once they're already successful. It's not about giving good advice to others, it's about elevating the advisor. It's a modern day equivalent of God's voice speaking to Joan of Arc. "Listen to your heart" isn't great advice when your heart isn't particularly telling you anything, but it makes the advisor look like she's been bestowed with great purpose.

I recommend Elizabeth Gilbert's talk about genius. You're a lot more likely to be "visited by genius" halfway through the daily slog than you are on any random moment of any random day.