Why passion can’t come easy…

May 14, 2007 · Filed Under Stupid Employee Tricks 

Everybody wants to be passionate about what they do but they have a hard time finding what they are passionate about in the first place. It seems that all sorts of people are having a hard time figuring out exactly what they want to do in life. Even people that shouldn’t know what they are passionate about yet are concerned about it.

It may seem weird but I haven’t ever worried about it. Why?

I already know what I am passionate about. I am passionate about my wife. I love her. I am passionate about being outdoors. I love fishing. I love camping. I love playing electric guitar. I love single malt whiskeys.

I know what being passionate is all about. So am I passionate about my job? Yes and no.

What you say! I know, I am writing an entire blog about HR issues and I am on the fence about if I am passionate or not?

The parts of my job I am really passionate about aren’t HR specific though. HR gives me better access to the thing I like most about business: people. Sounds corny, I know, but give me a shot. Landing a key person in an area where they are passionate and it meets a significant business need is a feeling of euphoria. Convincing an employee to stay with it, help them develop into better people and see success could drive me for months.

Employment law? Not so much. FLSA interpretation? Hell no. Those are parts of my job that I do because it is necessary if I want to do everything else.

What about your current job are you passionate about? How do you translate that into finding that next step if what you do isn’t all that?

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Comments

5 Responses to “Why passion can’t come easy…”

  1. Kreig Zimmerman on May 14th, 2007 10:36 pm

    This isn’t so easy to believe. I can relate. What am I most passionate about–as relates to working? People: interacting, convincing, influencing, entertaining. Obviously that means some jobs are good for my temperament, and some are not.

    You do make a good point. All jobs have their “bothers”. It’s finding work, and a career, that provides a core which invigorates that will keep a person from burning out on it…

  2. Kreig Zimmerman on May 14th, 2007 10:37 pm

    Ooops… that should read “isn’t so HARD to believe”. Late night surfin’. :D

  3. Your HR Guy on May 14th, 2007 10:42 pm

    I do that all the time :)

  4. Jacob Share on May 15th, 2007 1:24 am

    Passion is critical to finding a dream job, as I blogged here:
    http://jobmob.co.il/blog/the-secret-to-finding-dream-jobs/

    But you make a great point- just because you love part of your job doesn’t mean that you love all of it. There are always tradeoffs to make, but there are ways of having your cake and eating it too. Can you outsource, even partially, the tasks that you find tedious and annoying?

  5. Bob Dobbsson on May 15th, 2007 8:45 am

    I don’t know that I would say I’m passionate about anything I do at my job. There are things I enjoy. I do seem to get really wrapped up in digging in to problems and solving them and/or finding their source but I don’t know that I would say I’m passionate about it.

    Mainly, I domy job because the parts I enjoy outweigh the parts I don’t like and it allows me to do the things I am passionate about.

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    Your HR Guy is a Human Resources Generalist practicing in the field. But don't let that fool you, this isn't a boring blog. I seek relevance and humor in a place we will spend much of our lives. Everything from workplace issues, job seeking and terrible bosses. Read more...

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