Passion

Having the PASSION motive means you are driven to seek work with which you have an inspired connection, and which allows you to experience joy, excitement, and even positive frustration. Living your best work life means genuinely liking the work you do, feeling personally invested in it, and being immersed in tasks that engage your sense of meaning. Having this motive in your top 5 signifies a deep and resonant value for PASSION, not necessarily current possession of PASSION. You may already thrive through the practice of living out your professional passions, or you may be in a season of discovery, with the desire to discover where your passions are. A narrow but common understanding says that people have just one or two passions in life, and that passions are a thing to be found. This motive is broader than that, and meets you in work that matters to you, specific to your own values. Thus, people can easily have multiple passions and can also develop passions deliberately. However you relate to PASSION, you need heart as well as head-reasons for being engaged and well at work. You’re capable of profound enthusiasm, and want to channel that enthusiasm into your work when your passions match professional goals. In the short-term, you may be capable of performing work that doesn’t much matter to you, but in the long-term, you are liable to feel demotivated, and as if the best version of yourself and your work life is somewhere else.

  You feel this motive being met when…

+ What you do each day somehow derives from your PASSION, not just from necessity or from a professional pride in meeting goals.

+ You feel a meaningful connection to your work, even on difficult days.

+ When you ask yourself what engages your PASSION at work, you can give specific answers.

+ You have a strong desire to pursue the work you’ve chosen, and you have a personally compelling reason for pursuing each aspect of it.

 This motive is at risk when…

– You no longer care about the work you do, beyond the most basic obligatory sense. (This may be a sign of burnout.)

– You don’t see the purpose of your job, not even as an investment in a bigger picture (like helping someone else, honing skills, or as a stepping stone toward the career you want).

– You know what you’re most passionate about in life, and your job does not engage those passions.

– You feel disconnected from your passions, and you do not feel you are making progress towards recovering or discovering them.

A Work Wellness Check-In for PASSION

1.  Do I care about the work I do day-to-day? Why or why not?
2. When I think about my objectives and the reasons I go to work, what emotions surface? Do these emotions encourage or discourage me?
3. What are my passions in the big picture? Large or small, what are the things, people, places, or ideas that energize me? How many of these passions meet me in my workplace?
4. If I’m not sure what I’m passionate about, what steps will I take to discover my PASSION? (e.g. follow my curiosities; try different areas of interest; reflect on my strengths; consider when I feel I’m the best version of myself at work; etc.) 
5. Where do I feel PASSION at work? Where do I experience demotivation or disinterest? Which of these areas demands the majority of my time?
6. If I’m passionate about my current job or tasks, is my passion welcome in the workplace? How do my leaders and colleagues respond to my commitment or energy?
7. How do I cultivate my PASSION motive on a daily basis? (Be specific — think large and small.)

8. Where do I feel PASSION at work? Where do I experience demotivation or disinterest? Which of these areas demands the majority of my time?
9. How do I cultivate my PASSION motive on a daily basis? (Be specific — think large and small.)
10. Do I view PASSION as a destination, or as a journey? Do I worry about “finding” PASSION, or am I able to focus on creating and engaging in it?
11. Do I hold myself to impossibly high standards in meeting this motive? Am I trying to force myself into PASSION, or do I allow it to lead me? Do I feel like my approach to this motive holds me back or frees and energizes me? Do I feel judged by my own attitudes about PASSION?
12. If I don’t feel passionate about my current work, is what I’m doing now an opportunity to arrive at a role where my PASSION is utilized and honored?
13. Am I open to being a multi-passionate person, i.e. one with many passions both inside and outside of my work life? Would I consider myself multi-passionate already? How has this served me?
14. If I know where my passions lie, but am not pursuing them, what is stopping me? What payoff do I get for blocking or ignoring my PASSION (e.g. financial security, perceptions of respectability, meeting other motives, etc.)? Is it worth it?
15. Why did I take my current job? What did I believe about it that made me decide it was worth my time, effort, and focus? Do I still feel connected to those reasons? If not, can I find my way back to them and reinvigorate my PASSION? If I simply needed this job at the time I accepted it, do I have the independence and resources now to look at where my PASSION could lead me next?
16. Am I currently experiencing growth towards goals and interests that are meaningful to me in my work life?