I have the great privilege of being a quarterly lecturer for an MBA program. I love this class specifically because I get to share knowledge on ideas I didn’t even have the right questions for when I was in the student’s chair.
During a great class on all things talent acquisition – covering how to find a job that’s a great fit for you, how to interview well, set up a strong internal talent acquisition system at a company, and interview well – in the question phase of the class a student asked a very interesting question.
“I hear you talking about finding a job that you’re passionate about and creating passion and investment in the work that you do. I hear a lot of other people talk about this too. I don’t think it’s nonsense or that you’re lying about it, but I’ve never felt it. I’m the sort of person who just works for money. I check in, do what I have to, and leave as soon as I can. It sounds nice to actually enjoy your work, but I don’t think I can. What do you say to that?”
He did just say that he didn’t think I was lying about it, but his tone and phrasing made me think that he wondered if it was a reality for other people or if they were talking a big game. I first wanted to understand his access to passion and being energetically uplifted in general.
I asked him a follow up question. “Only if you’re comfortable sharing in front of the class – I’d love to know what you are passionate about? What gets you really energized?”
“You mean unrelated to work and school?”
“Yes!”
“I love racing. I like going to NASCAR races, I like playing NASCAR video games, I like watching races on TV.” His energy picked up, his tone lightened, his whole body communicated his love for racing. I wanted to hear more about where the disconnect was for him.”
“What would it be like to feel that way about work?” I asked this specifically broad question to have him lead the exploration.
“Well I wouldn’t want to do something like racing in my work, because work is boring. If I did even something as amazing as NASCAR for my work, it would become boring because work is boring and not fun.”
Bingo. Well, I felt the bingo, but there would be a lot more work he would need to do to release this programming from his mind.
“Wow, that was really powerful. What I just heard is that you have made a decision that has become a self fulfilling prophecy and is really limiting for you. I heard you say that you have a belief, you have a story you’ve told yourself as ‘truth’, that says “work is boring, work isn’t fun”. Until you reprogram that and make a different decision for yourself, you will be stuck with that ‘truth’. So much so that, as you just explained, even your most fun activities in the world would become boring.
The really great part? You can turn that belief around and make it equally as powerful in the opposite direction so that you leverage the power of your mind to make any work fun.”
As a next step I recommended finding a great coach or program to help him find (often subconscious) systems of belief that aren’t serving his life that he can transform.
I’ve written another article about How to be Passionate About Your Work but neither of these even scratch the surface on this incredibly liberating topic. How funny that a short article on LinkedIn doesn’t give the golden key to life 😉 Given the same circumstances, we have the choice to live this one beautiful life with joy and in the driver’s seat, or with a resignation to put up with life’s misery. We have that choice. I hope you chose a life that inspires you and brings you joy.
If you liked this article, here are some others you may enjoy:
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