The reason most people lose their motivation is that they are no longer truly engaged in their work or their organisation. What was once the novelty of the job has now worn off and if you don’t feel there are clear next steps for you and you can’t see a way out, it’s easy to lose your drive and enthusiasm. That is, unless you are working at your passion.
Can You Follow Your Passion at Work?
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Julia_L_Carter]Julia L Carter
There is a lot of talk nowadays about striving to be fulfilled human beings and getting our work life balance right – all very important aspects of the way we now consider work as only a part of our existence and not the ‘be all and end all’ it once was. There is also an increasing emphasis on ‘following your passion’ and finding activities that truly resonate with your life purpose. In a work sense ‘a passion’ can be the thing that energises you completely, that you could do for hours and hours on end and that you would do even if you weren’t being paid for it. That’s how you define your passion!
How do I find my passion?
If you’re a musician, an actor, a scientist, a doctor you may have already discovered this; it’s the ‘calling’ that strongly attracts people to certain professions often from a very early age and they are more or less impelled to follow. But I imagine if you are reading this then you are not quite in that category and your career path has not been so clearly defined!
There are nonetheless aspects of work that you are attracted to or repelled by.
Here are some tips to help you find your passion:
1 Make a list of your ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ – this is a good place to start if you aren’t totally sure which way to go.
2 Also ask yourself the question ‘What do I do that makes my heart sing and that I would do even if I wasn’t paid to do it?’ this may not be the total job but just an aspect of your present, or past, employment activity. For example you may be a team leader with targets to hit and budgets to balance but the part of the job that you really enjoy is being able to help others sort out their interpersonal problems and find ways forward.
3 Ask yourself, if there anything from the past that you have renounced that you’d now like to bring back into your life? You might have given up ballet or football at an early age because of injury – is there some way you can get involved again, maybe as a non-participant but as a dresser for the local ballet company or an accountant for the local football club? Yes, I know these aren’t paying jobs (though they may be) but some people find that they increase their motivation and enthusiasm for their work if they are engaged in a fulfilling occupation outside of work.
4 Now find opportunities to follow the things you love; get fulfilled and get motivated. For that team leader who loves helping people find their own solutions, they might be an ideal mentor for the company or a cross-departmental coach. If you can see you have skills and abilities that you’d really like to use at work but don’t have the chance to in your current job, then set about finding or creating the opportunity. Your manager might help you and your organisation will certainly appreciate your sense of initiative.
And who knows where that might lead?
ACTION!
Find a way to incorporate something you love doing into what you do now. Be creative!
Julia Carter is an expert in helping people revitalise their careers and get their motivation back. She passionately believes every individual can be the person they really want to be when they are given the right tools, support and direction to get there. She offers hands on, highly motivating coaching with great practical results. Sign up for your free skills audit and find out your strengths http://www.zestformondays.com
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Can-You-Follow-Your-Passion-at-Work?&id=7078927] Can You Follow Your Passion at Work?
