Part 2 of an article written by Carolyn O’Conner-System Creator, Project Manager and Ministry Leader
You can tell me that you can do anything you put your mind to, and I would agree with you. I also know that if you don’t know how to do something, passion alone will not help you do it. However, I am saying that doing something you are not passionate about can cause a part of you to slowly diminish until you are a fraction of what you could be if passion was part of the equation. You will likely go through the motions each day and hope that something will change before you lose your mind. Day after day, nothing changes, and you slowly forget what it would feel like to love what you do and you begin to say, “This is as good as it gets. 23 years till retirement, man.”
I am not suggesting you quit your passionless job today and wander through live in search of the passion “buzz”, but I would suggest to you that you figure out what you love and find a way to do it. Do you know how to do “It” well-enough to get hired to do it? If not, take a class. Volunteer to do the job to gain experience. For example, I wanted to be a secretary through most of my high school years, but I could not get a job (even on work study) because my typing skills were awful. So, I practiced, picked up small typing jobs to gain experience, and was able to get my speed high enough to get hired by a temp agency. After a couple years, I was hired for my first full-time secretarial job. Five years later, I was hired as a C-level assistant and worked at it for many years until it was time to move on to something else. Often, the things we are passionate about become the things we are good at doing because we have the drive to make it happen no matter what. You may not make the six-figures you were hoping for doing it, but if you think about it – money really doesn’t buy happiness (although it will pay for the therapy you may need if you stick with passionless work).
Life is too short to be miserable working. Do what you love and be good at it.