The power of the passion

If you’ve been looking for work you can be passionate about but can’t find it, maybe you’ve been looking in the wrong place…

Maybe one of the things that compel us to read about the lives of celebrities is that they are living a life we wish we had. If only we could do that for a living – like the old Dire Straits song: “That ain’t working – that’s the way you do it – get your money for nothing…” And when the celebs are interviewed they talk about how lucky they are, getting paid for doing what they love. What a life!
I used to think not everyone has a passion they can turn into a living: having a “calling” was the privilege of the fortunate few. I’m now not so sure that’s true.
The other day, I asked a room full of people to stand up if the work they do has something to do with who they are as a person. A surprising number stood up. Motor mechanics. Social policy writers. Finance officers. Administration workers. There wasn’t a priest or a doctor among them. But by standing, all of them were indicating that their work means something in their lives. That’s passion. That’s a calling.
What makes our work meaningful is a very individual thing. For some people it’s about the work they do – the things they build, fix, or create. For others it’s the employer they work with – and what that organisation represents. For others it’s the relationships they build, the people they influence, or the ideas they work with that make their work special.
Whatever makes your work satisfying, that’s the clue to your passion. It’s not in a job description, it’s in how you feel about the work you do – what your work means to you.
But of course, back in that room, not everyone stood up. Not everyone has found a way to work, a place to work, or a job to do that has meaning for them. And they might have been thinking, like I used to think: “I don’t get passionate about work. Work is work.”
So let’s re-define passion (in the work context!). A good start is to think about what’s important to you:
When do you feel REALLY happy – joyful even? What are the things you love discussing and debating with friends and family? What are the things you could do all day and never get bored or tired? What are the things other people admire you for?
You might not find a job that has it all, but you might find a way to build some of those things into your work. It’s not so much the work you do, but how you do it that matters.
Be open to surprises. Passion is rarely straightforward or predictable, and often we find we can get what we want in unexpected ways. Don’t be afraid to make decisions, then make sense of them of them afterwards – gut instinct and intuition have their merits!