I see a lot of people who stumble through life not feeling particularly strongly about their job and career. For myself, this comes after I feel I’ve been burned – and don’t want to emotionally invest myself in something where I might get injured again.
Here’s the problem with that: Your best work, your greatest achievements, tend to come when you’re deeply immersed in what you’re doing. So if you’re not getting in deeply enough to become passionate about what you’re doing, you’re probably only doing adequate work – not great work.
Adequate work might get you a paycheck – or maybe not. When jobs are scarce, they’ll tend to go to those who really are the best at what they do.
Last week in Chicago I was fortunate to be a part of a group of people who are deeply passionate about what they do. You know what? They’re moving mountains. Nothing will get in the way, because they’re willing to put an extraordinary amount of time and energy into what they’re doing.
When you get that engaged in a job, it can be truly amazing. It’s happened to me a number of times in my career, and each counts as a highlight of my life. I learned a lot, contributed a lot, made a difference. Easy? No. Worth it? Absolutely.
So what would make you so passionate about your career that you’d lose yourself in your job?