“Nothing great in the world has been accomplished
without passion”
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Knowing yourself well, and feeling confident about yourself are two very beneficial traits in helping you find your passion, even at work. And, this all begins with an accurate assessment and understanding of your strengths, values and weaknesses. It’s finding, figuring out, or discerning what makes you feel good about yourself. We discussed this a little in another post, Passion for Life.
Personality
This process of self-evaluation begins with evaluating the factors that have molded you and your personality – family, experiences, education and training. The majority of your strengths and values are determined, usually at a young age. Some of these things are products of your upbringing, while some are by-products of unfulfilled needs you try to reinforce as you grow older and continue to mature.
Knowing your top five strengths and values will give you a template by which you can measure the choices you make in your career and personal life. Being successful at work means that you can freely use all of your strengths as well as fulfill your values.
When your activities are not really a reflection of your strengths and values, how does that make you feel?
Useless? Powerless? You feel less than adequate when you find yourself in a working situation that tells so little about your talents, your values, your thoughts and feelings. When you find yourself in this kind of situation, you feel tied up in a routine that is far removed from your own personality and who you believe you are.
You will usually feel bored and unfulfilled. You don’t look forward to exciting or adventurous days. You feel trapped and may find that you are always wishing for vacations, days off and lunch breaks. Anything to break the monotony! Regardless of how much money you may be making, when you deny your thoughts and feelings, your work can become difficult and boring.
Make an honest assessment
The best way to determine your strengths and values is to be brutally honest and direct with yourself. By accepting your true feelings, you can reveal much of your potential and possibilities in life.
It is equally as important to take pride in yourself. Some people hide their true strengths out of fear of rejection. Your power lies in your uniqueness!
Powerful people are confident about themselves, even if it is perceived by others in a negative way. To find your passion at work you must resist the temptation of comparing yourself to others. This will only limit your choices and career development.
Interests outside of work
Your hobbies and interest also say a lot about your strengths and values. Most people take great pleasure in the things they do for relaxation. Things like reading, gardening or traveling. The things you do naturally and effortlessly motivate and empower you. Pleasurable experiences can be either academic or non-academic. When you enjoy yourself doing something, your full potential strengths are clearly manifested.
Values
Think about the times you feel happiest at work. What are the values and strengths in these situations that are so evident to you?
Values can change and develop over time, but there are some that remain permanently embedded in your personality. These values reflect what you think is good and worthwhile. Of all human activities, work has possibly the greatest potential of fulfilling your personal values. When you are true to yourself and passionate with your values, you are much more likely to find yourself in the work you love and enjoy. Most of your values are clearly evident in the things that you do and say. A few of them will become more evident under specific or certain circumstances. (See, Principles: Walking the Talk)
Once you have assessed your strengths and values, you can set your own new parameters when looking for a new employer or purusing a new job offer. You want to be a sure as possible that the values and strengths you have are in alignment with your new (or current) job and employer. In finding your passion, work is an important venue where you should be able to fully share the values and strengths that are important to you.
Thoughts?
Other Related Posts
2. Passion, success and what really matters
4. Life is What You Make it: Make a Plan
photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zooboing/5434784744/sizes/z/in/photostream/
