These are some follow up thoughts on Kevin’s post about having a job or a career. It’s something I think about quite a bit because I really do love my career immensely, and we work with people every day who love their careers, too. We also work with some who are struggling to find that “right fit”. It’s a common point of discussion around here.
If you don’t have a level of passion about what you’re doing, then you need to take some time and really think about where you do find passion. I’m not talking about blindly following some desire that has no potential for economic success. We’ve talked about finding that center where your passion intersects with both your talents and your economic drivers. That’s where the magic really happens.
When you commit yourself to a career, it might be for a lifetime or it might be for a period of time. Whatever that timeline is, it should be one that includes a great personal enthusiasm and intrinsic motivation for what you are doing.
It should be something that you think about in your “on” hours and your “off” hours. You should be seeing connections to your work everywhere you turn. You should be so thirsty for more information about what you’re doing that no one ever has to remind or coax you to read or study. You should be looking for ways to make your agency and your clients better at what they’re doing and looking for any opportunity to talk about your learning every day with anyone who will listen. Because you want to!
You can reinvent yourself and your career several times over, but whatever you’re doing at the time should be your total focus and commitment. Without both of these things – the focus and commitment – you will perform poorly. And you’re cheating your clients, co-workers, and your company.
I love the philosophy Gary Vaynerchuck shares in his book, The Thank You Economy:
“If you’re not passionate about what your company does to find fuel for conversation for everyday, for hours on end, with as many people as possible, maybe you’re in the wrong business.”
Encouraging people to leave their jobs is not (necessarily) my focus here, but rather encouraging people to do what they love to do each day. Maybe that just requires a focus on the right parts of your job and getting rid of those pesky things that you’re not very good at anyway.
But really, if you’re not doing what you love now, then when are you going to do it?
If you’re considering where you are in your career, you might want to take the time to read Kevin’s article on the intersection of passions, talents, and economic drivers. If you want to delve deeper into a personal branding exercise that will step you through each area and help point you to some conclusions, let us know. We’d be happy to share ours with you.
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Photo by kadettmann
