HR Management & Compliance

Has Your Work Become … Well, Work?

What is it you really love to do? Sometimes we lose sight of that and end up settling for something much less.

If you don’t love what you do, you won’t do it with much conviction or passion.
—Mia Hamm

What’s the saying, “Find something you love to do, and you won’t work a day in your life”? How many of us head off to work every day instead of walking out the door to go do something we really love?

Is your job your passion or just your profession?

The biggest mistake that you can make is to believe that you are working for somebody else. . . . The driving force of a career must come from the individual. Remember: Jobs are owned by the company; you own your career!
—Earl Nightingale

If you’re grinding away in a job you don’t really like, maybe it’s time you do something about it. It could be something as simple as an attitude adjustment. You might have your dream job and you’ve just lost sight of how good you really have it. You’ve allowed yourself to fall into a rut, and you don’t appreciate how lucky you really are. You’ve become focused on everything you don’t like about the job instead of all the really good things. It could be as simple as writing down all the things you like about your current job.

But it could be that you need more than an attitude adjustment. It might just be time to set some new goals. Often, after being in a position for a while, we grow bored because we’ve accomplished much of what we initially set out to do. It might just be time for some new, aggressive goals. There’s nothing like some new BHAGs to get the adrenaline flowing. BHAG is an acronym coined by author Jim Collins in his book Good to Great. It stands for Big Hairy Audacious Goal. Maybe you need some!

There is no passion to be found playing small—in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.
—Nelson Mandela

If you need more than an attitude adjustment or a set of new goals, maybe it’s time for a change of scenery. It may be that you love what you do; you just don’t like where you’re doing it. That’s OK. Sometimes it takes a new environment to get your inner fire stoked and get you excited about your job. There are times when we’ve done what we can for one organization and the same position at another company offers exciting prospects to once again make significant contributions that provide a huge sense of satisfaction.

If none of the previous three possibilities will cure your workplace blues, maybe it’s time you find something else to do. Things change. We change. Sometimes what once excited us no longer does the trick. We’re all shaped by our experiences in life. You may have reached a point where your career path needs to go in a new direction. If you find yourself at that fork in the road, my only advice is that you pursue the path you’re most passionate about.

Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.
—Oprah Winfrey

It’s time to ask, what are you passionate about?

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