The other day I was reading on online book from a speaker I had heard at an event the Chamber of Commerce put on a couple months ago. In that event he was talking about the 10 foundations of motivation. One of the things that Shawn Doyle, who is a motivational speaker, mentions as one of the 10 foundations is having passion for what you do. The reality is that most professionals spend more time at work than at home. And when they are at home, many times they are thinking about what they didn't get done at work or have to do the next day (as you recall, in last week's post I wrote about work life balance). If you spend so much time at work, don't you think it would be great to do something you have passion for? According to Shawn, in his book The 10 Foundations of Motivation, when you are passionate about something you are "energized, upbeat, optimistic, and proud of what you are doing, you will be motivated, and will get more accomplished than you ever thought possible." Wouldn't it be great to wake up every morning and have such a passion that you are excited to go to work, and not only to go to work, but a passion for life itself as well? A passion in which you make the best of every day.
In one of prior jobs I was not passionate about what I did. It was literally a drag to get up and go to work everyday. I detested it. Life is short and you have to make the best of it. So what did I do? I went job searching. I wanted a job that I would be passionate about; a job which I would enjoy doing everyday and feel a sense of accomplishment in. It was for the best. Every week I would speak with coworkers that were not happy with where they were at. And my suggestion to them was to find a job they enjoyed and were passionate about. They had many different excuses as to why they didn't want to change jobs. And today, most of them are still at the same place, with the same attitude, doing the same thing.
Being in both positions, I learned that when you have passion for what you are doing, you are more engaged, have a better disposition, and are willing to give your best, not because you have to, but because you want to. Wouldn't it be great to have employees that have passion for what they do? As a manager, make sure the people you hire have a passion for what they have to do. No matter what the position, you have to have passion.
In his book, The 10 Foundations of Motivation, Shawn gives ideas on how you can find that passion and how to stay passionate. This is a tool that can be used for employee engagement as well. It can be downloaded online free.
Do you enjoy the job you are doing now? Do you have passsion? What do you do to stay passionate about your job, and life? I would like to hear your thoughts.
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Interesting post. Your last question particularly caught my attention. What do you do to stay passionate about your job and life? I personally find that even though I am passionate about my job I can get bored if it becomes to routine. Now routine doesn't mean easy or without stress, but in the Accounting word things can become very repetitive (think about it, we close the books 12 times a year). I find that I keep my passion for my work fueled by the special projects that improve the department and/or organization. I don't shy away from change or from requests to sit on those committees because it keeps me very engaged.
ReplyDeleteThis spills over into life in general. You are right on point that when we are passionate, motivated, and happy at work it has a tremendous impact on our overall outlook on life.
What a great post, i am going to check out that book. You bring up a great point on passion in the workplace. I have been in jobs in the past that became just another job for me that I did not care. I always found for myself that when I dont want to get up and do your job it is time to move on. Each and every day i sit in front of doctors and try to sell them on me and my company and if I did not have passion about my products that would come across in a major way. I have alot of friends who are miserable in their jobs for one reason or another and my advice to them is always to find something that you care about and can be passionate about.
ReplyDeleteI have been involved in the hiring of some people in the past and it is very clear when you meet someone who has a passion about something you can hear it in their voice.
You make a great point about the hours we spend in our jobs, and how easily our attitudes can spill into our personal life, stay motivated,passionate and love what you do and if you dont its time to move on and find something that can get you what you are looking for.