I always liked this article written by Carolyn O’Conner-System Creator, Project Manager and Ministry Leader. I like her message and refer to it often to recharge my batteries – Keith
Have you ever met someone who was incredibly gifted at something but looked completely miserable doing it? They are painful to watch, and you almost want to shoot them to put them out of their misery. One of my favorite “small-talk” questions after asking what a person does is “Do you enjoy it?” If they tell me no, I ask why they are doing it. Answers range from money to waiting for something better to not being sure why they are doing it anymore. As we talk, it becomes clear that their work isn’t a source of pride, and they are pretty sure they will be let go soon (or die doing it).
Based on many of these conversations and what I’ve noticed in my own life, I would propose that passion for something might be as important or more important than the ability to do something. Here’s a few of my reasons why:
• Passion cannot be taught; skills/abilities can. (You can take a class on project management, but I’ve yet to find a class on how to fall in love with shorthand.)
• If you don’t like doing something, it doesn’t matter how much you are paid to do it or how good you are at . . . you are still not going to like it. (You may be able to tolerate it but it will never be something that lights you up and gives you energy to keep going when things go kaput.)
• While being able to do something is a good measure of success, it’s only success if you can do it long enough to show track record of excellence (If you hate creating spreadsheets, how many Excel pivot tables would it take before you start drawing ears on your computer mouse, hoping it will come to life and do the chart for you?)
• If you aren’t passionate about what you are doing, you are not likely to give it your best. (Please don’t confuse passion for a job with passion for a project. There are aspects of my job that I dislike, but overall, I love what I do and give it everything I have, including the stuff I don’t like . . . most of the time. There is the occasional duty-filled project. One is finance reports – all those numbers that don’t like to come together…Grrr.)
To be continued . . .