by Maria C Collins

Created on: September 03, 2010

Have you observed the way that a dedicated doctor reassures his patients, a born nurse calms a patient’s fears, a minister preaches a sermon that inspires his congregation, or a youth worker reaches out to troubled teenagers? All those people are passionate about the job that they do and their passion is apparent in the way that they do their jobs.

When you are passionate about your work, the joy lights up your face and it shows in everything that you do. You are enthusiastic and other people, customers, clients, patients, colleagues other people that you encounter during your work feel your joy.

When you merely do a job for the salary that you get at the end of each week or month, it is obvious to everyone too. The bored shop assistant, who cannot be bothered whether she serves customers, has no passion and this infects her customers and colleagues. Her cloud of negativity covers everyone and her behaviour makes them feel negative too.

Passion is why people remember a favourite teacher. A teacher’s passion often inspires a life-long love and interest in pupils. G, now in his sixties, was a poor reader at primary school, because he suffers from dyslexia. He still remembers a teacher’s spirited and dramatic reading of “Oliver Twist” (Charles Dickens) which inspired him to struggle through all of Charles Dickens’ novels, despite his reading difficulties, and inspired a life-long love and interest. That is what passion about your work can do and, as the example clearly illustrates, your passion can stay with someone else for a lifetime.

Passion is the expression of love. When you love your work, it is not an onerous burden. You make the effort to improve yourself and the way that you do your work. Each day is a pleasure and a joy and this helps to achieve and accomplish great things in your career. You drive yourself on, not because you have to but because you want to.

It is an old adage that “square pegs do not fit into round holes”. You will spend a great part of your life at work and it is important, when choosing a career or changing your career, that you know yourself and your passions before choosing what you want to do. Being a happy round peg in a round hole releases the passion that will make you successful in your career.

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