Finding Your Passion at Work

Many workers feel that although they do their job and do it well, they don’t have the passion for the work that they once had—or maybe it was never there in the first place.

Collaboration. Efficiency. Effectiveness. Outstanding Service—these are terms often used to commend employees for a job well done at work. But passion? That’s not a term regularly heard around the office. How many people really have passion for the work that they do?

According to Entrepreneur magazine, many of us struggle to know what it is we are truly passionate about, let alone how to make an income doing it.  Workers who have lost the passion for what they do are hardly alone.

Still, if you’re going to work, it’s important to reignite your passion so that your work goes from a job well done to something you truly care about and take pride in.

Here are some simple tips to help reignite the flame:

• Remember what you used to love – Think about something that you used to love to do when you were a child. What excited your imagination and made you look forward to starting your day? If you can’t go back that far, think about what made you the happiest most recently. Does it apply to your job? If not, pursue it anyway.

• Do what you love consistently – Once you remember what you used to love, do it on a regular basis. Start slow at first and see how it makes you feel. Take that dance class once a week and see how your mood carries in to the next day and into your work. You may find yourself reenergized and that feeling may well carry over into other areas of your life.

• Don’t wait for it, create it – Don’t wait for your passion to come to you. By doing what you love consistently, you will be exercising your passion muscles and creating that spark.

• Get outside your comfort zone – If limitations hold you back from doing what you once loved, don’t give up on your passion. It just means it’s time for you to start exploring another way to approach it or to try something else that has always interested you.

The key to reigniting your passion and joie de vivre is in your hands. Take the time to do what you love and enjoy it. You will reap the benefits both inside and outside the office.

How do you find your passion at work?

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Michael Norris is CEO of Hospitals, North America for Sodexo and a strong advocate for the new performance frontier: Quality of Life. Mr. Norris is committed to developing the next generation of STEM leaders – both women and men – and helping to prepare all young people entering the workforce to be successful.