Where has all the passion gone?
For all our wonderful time-saving devices, there’s less time to enjoy our passions it seems. Australians are among the hardest working people in the world, behind the US and Japan. Apparently they are now working longer – 40 percent of full-time workers now do more than eight hours a day and one in five work more than 50 hours a week.
That wouldn’t be so bad if we enjoyed our work. The problem is that studies reveal that 88 percent of us are dissatisfied with our jobs – largely due to long hours and poor working environments. Certainly not a recipe for a passionate life. Large numbers of people are simply too tired to contemplate a life after work, let alone giving the best part of themselves to their family and friends.
It is easy then to feel powerless. And it is difficult, then to get in touch with what we really want because we don’t see a means of getting it. ’There’s no time’ ’I’m too tired’ ‘Nobody listens to me" comes the weary cry. This why some people find it impossible to figure out what they really want. As soon as the desire emerges into consciousness, a doubt squashes it. ’Forget it. It’s not possible.’ So most people forget it. The result is a kind of ‘checking out’. My body is at work, or wherever I am, but the rest of me is back at home in bed or at the golf course.
Perhaps this is why the ‘p’ word (passion) has come in vogue in the past couple of years in organisations. Companies are figuring out that having a whole lot of vacant bodies at work doesn’t do a great deal for productivity. In the past if you walked into a board room and mentioned the word passion most likely you’d be met with raised eyebrows and references to quickies in the photocopy room. Certainly not the stuff of serious commerce. But these days the ‘p’ word is even beginning to replace words like ‘motivation’ and ‘engagement’. This is because awareness is growing that passionate staff – and that means from the floor to the CEO – are happier, work harder, and excel way beyond those who just want to get their bonus, get out and go to the pub.
Leaders and the people around them cannot keep achieving new goals and inspiring others without understanding their own dreams and doing something about realising them. It is very difficult to be inspiring when you are feeling unfulfilled in your own life. So if you find yourself saying “I feel trapped,”“I’m bored,” “I’m not who I want to be,” “I can no longer compromise my ethics,” perhaps it’s time to take stock, take time out, reflect on your dreams, or work with a coach or mentor who can help you do that. Do whatever you can to join that 12% who love what they do – either by finding ways to boost your passion in your present situation, or moving on to greener, more passionate pastures.
Quick Tip – boosting passion at work
Any time you feel yourself getting drawn into the workplace mania, and out of your sense of self, then just stop, breathe, and take a moment to reflect on what is happening in your body. Do you feel tense anywhere? Closed? Is your heart beating faster? Just remain aware. Breathe. Observe. Know that the mania is outside, whereas your inner space is inside and under your control. Feel the shift in awareness that comes with knowing you have a choice whether to let the mania rule or not.
Knowing this gives you space to allow a quality to emerge. Maybe it is humour (perhaps you are surrounded by anal retentives) Or calmness (perhaps your workplace reminds you of Central Station) Or integrity (maybe there’s back stabbing going on). Or maybe enthusiasm, a sense of fun, calmness, clarity, confidence. Whatever it is, allow that to emerge in you, from the inside out.
Resume your work, whilst retaining awareness of this quality, and notice the effect this has had on your way of working. Perhaps you are more engaged, lighter, feel more free. And, heaven forbid, perhaps you are even enjoying yourself.
If you aren’t – then perhaps the grass really is greener elsewhere.