"Turn your passion into your job and you won't work a day in your life!"
How many times have you heard this sentiment? Perhaps it gives hope to anyone who hates what they do for a living, but in my opinion it is a seriously flawed idea. Often we love our hobbies because they give us a complete break from the types of tasks we do at work. The scarcity of the task makes it enjoyable. Turn scarcity into saturation and you may have a totally different feeling. The person who is passionate about baking and decides become a full-time baker may find that baking all day everyday isn't as much fun as they had hoped it would be.
The idea of turning your passion into your job suggests that each one of us needs to find that passion in order to be happy at work. That could be a tall order. In reality the type of work you do does not necessarily predict how much you will enjoy it. There are other factors to consider.
Let me introduce you to a totally different mindset for loving what you do.
Instead of handing in your notice and starting the hunt for your passion, you have the option to learn to love your current job by getting better at it. This idea was first introduced to me in the book 'So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love' (Newport). Cal Newport talks about a motivation theory called the Self Determination Theory. It suggests that to be motivated we need to satisfy three psychological needs:
Autonomy - The feeling of having some control over your time.
Competence - Doing your job well.
Relatedness - Being connected to other people.
These can all be satisfied if you are the best you can be at your job. Your competence will speak for itself, you will probably have earned the right to plan your own day and if you are that good, others will seek you out.
This theory isn't the only scientific study that supports the idea of attaining happiness by increasing your skill level. In 'The Joy of Work: Jobs, Happiness and You' (Warr and Clapperton), they identify nine features that need to be satisfied in order for you to be happy. All of these features have a direct link with getting better at what you do.
Personal Influence - This is the same idea as having autonomy.
Using Your Abilities - Research has shown this is one of the strongest reasons why people love their jobs.
Demands and Goals - Happy workers need to see they have achieved something. Goals can be set personally, or by your job description.
Variety - To feel happy with the tasks you do, you need to balance routine with variation. Too much of either can affect your positive attitude.
Clear Requirements and Outlook - Satisfied workers need to know what is expected of them, how they are doing and what the future might hold.
Social Contact - We all need interaction with others, although the amount of contact varies depending on your role and personality type.
Money - Although money isn't the key to happiness you need to have enough to feel comfortable and secure. Once you achieve 'enough' more won't make you happier.
A Valued Role - Value can come from within, from the people around you, or society, but it is important to feel that what you do is valuable on some level.
Adequate Physical Setting - We need a place to work that lets us feel secure and comfortable. This is more important for some than others, but we all have a basic desire for a setting that provides us with protection.
Becoming an 'expert' in your field will increase in all nine of these happiness features. People will seek you out for help and advice (Social Contact, Variety). You are likely to earn more autonomy, money and possibly even better office space (Personal Influence, Money, Physical Setting). You may become one of the 'go-to' people in your office (Valued Role, Using Your Abilities, Demands and Goals, Clear Requirements and Outlook).
Improving your level of happiness at work by getting better at your job seems a lot more achievable than hunting for a passion that you can turn into a career. These nine features of happiness are not limited to your work. Try applying them to other areas of your life and watch yourself flourish. Getting better at anything can make you happier.
Newport, Calvin C. So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love. New York: Hachette Book Group, 2012.
Warr, Peter and Clapperton, Guy. The Joy of Work: Jobs, Happiness and You. Hove, East Sussex, England: Routledge, 2010.
Reen Rose is a certified Myers Briggs practitioner as well as an experienced facilitator of teambuilding and management development workshops.
She has been described as 'focused, fun and very effective'. Reen believes in the value of guiding people to become the best person, team member and leader they can. She is an enthusiastic life-long learner who believes there is always something more to discover about ourselves and the people around us.
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