Some people are born with passion for a career and they always carry that fire with them. Others may have trouble finding or keeping their passion alive. Discovering and cultivating passion in a lifelong career is not as difficult as you might think. With a few key insights, you can discover or reignite a passion for your career that will provide a sense of accomplishment, contentment, and even joy for years to come.
 

“Grit is that ‘extra something’ that separates the most successful people from the rest. It’s the passion, perseverance, and stamina that we must channel in order to stick with our dreams until they become a reality.”

– Travis Bradberry, Emotional Intelligence author

DISCOVER PASSION

In working with professionals in their mid-career, we often find that their passion has silently escaped them. They are going about their important, busy jobs but have lost their passion for a career that once excited and challenged them. These professionals are often involved in jobs that require influencing and mentoring others, but without passion, it’s difficult to motivate others.

As we complete our session on passion and our participants have rediscovered the compelling reasons for doing their important jobs, we notice an obvious change. There is a new twinkle in their eyes and they have renewed grit that is required to excel in their career.

If our participants can discover passion for their job, then you can too. How? Here’s part of the secret to discovering or renewing your passion for your professional work:

What part of your career do you volunteer extra effort? What do you go home talking about that was interesting and engaging? What projects are you drawn to and which ones do you avoid?
 

BUILD AN ENGAGING CAREER

Passion for our work leads to engagement; engagement then leads to extra effort and intensity. Once you are working with passion and are fully engaged in what you’re doing, you’re less focused on the hours and the money. Instead, you’re happily contributing to personal and organizational projects and goals that provide a sense of accomplishment. You create a positive loop of passion and accomplishment for yourself. This is what you’ve been looking for.

You can easily discover your passion and create an engaging career for yourself. Here’s how:
 

KNOW YOURSELF

Examine yourself. Ask yourself, “What about my work is most energizing?” What stimulates you to give extra effort? What are your strengths? What gets you bogged down? Why did you choose this career? Robert Stephen Kaplan calls this looking for your “best self.”* Often, we fail to reflect on experiences when we are at our best and enjoying what we do. In the future, stop and recognize when you’re enjoying your work and understand why you enjoy it so much. Make a few notes so you can revisit and make future changes accordingly.
 

EXPERIMENT

Real world experiences are indicators that can guide you. What parts of your career excite you? What new skill do you want to develop? What are you curious about? Learn to experiment and find new ways to express your passion. It’s important to follow your curiosity and uncover new or latent interests.
 

EXAMINE YOUR TIME

When do you lose track of time? What do you hate to stop doing? What do you always carve out time for? This can be a clue to your passion. According to Dr. Susan Biali, in “Five Steps to Finding Your Passion”, we “often lose . . . urgency and spend a big chunk of time” with what we love to do.** This can be a sign of our true passion.
 

EXPLORE NEW MENTAL MODELS

Stephen Covey encouraged participants in his 7 Habits of Highly Effective People seminars to imagine that they are at their 80th birthday party and to consider what tribute statements they want to hear from their children, an important co-worker, or from a significant client. This exercise takes you out of the present and asks you to look at something from a different point of view. Mental models help us find what’s most important to us. Here are other models that you might consider:

• What contribution do you want to make to the world around you?
• How do you explain to an important mentor the reason you chose this career?
• What advice would you give yourself now if you were your own career coach?

EXCEL AT WORK

Passion is critical to pursuing excellence and success in your profession, and there are many people who depend on you to bring your best to your career. Robert Stephen Kaplan reminds us that highly effective people almost always tell us that they love what they do. “If you ask them about their good career fortune, they’ll likely advise that you have to love what you do in order to perform at a high level of effectiveness.”

Passion will differentiate you from the rest. Passion provides you with fuel to keep going when the work is hard and the hours are long. David Maister identifies these attributes in Strategy and the Fat Smoker:

“Intelligence, IQ, brains and smarts are all important, but they are also more common than drive and determination. The latter will be more highly rewarded and also more determinative of future success. But you can’t sustain lifelong drive and determination unless you are passionate about accomplishing something. Discipline for discipline’s sake won’t work.”
 
 
 
* “Two Ways to Clarify Your Professional Passions”, Harvard Business Review, March 30, 2015
** “Five Steps to Finding Your Passion”, Psychology Today, May 8, 2012