Work can be a chore. And while we recognise this, a lot of us try to do our jobs to the best of our abilities. At the same time, people often say you need to love what you do to excel at your job. In short, they say you need to have passion.
Indeed, the Careers@Gov website calls for “people who are passionate about building our nation, whether it is teaching our children, keeping our communities safe or planning our national budgets”.
But what does being passionate really mean? What is passion anyway?
Passion Defined
Passion derives from emotions and is the motivation that makes us feel good about what we do. There is a sense of thrill and excitement, a belief that doing what we love would mean putting our every fibre into what needs to be done, according to Forbes.
Passion has to do more with your heart than your head. We need the heart element to reach our full potential because our intellectual capacity and skills can only take us so far.
But we have to remember that being passionate is a result of feelings, and our feelings change all the time. What if passion – too much and then too little – leads to burnout? We are bound to have rough days at work, days we feel unable to navigate our myriad tasks. Does this mean we are doomed to not be able to perform?
Some experts think becoming passionate and developing passion for our jobs is a better path to take. For example, some of us might “stumble” into jobs we probably have little or no interest in. But along the way we discover we are indeed good at our jobs, and start to care about the outcomes. We grow feelings for the work we do.
Purpose and Ikigai
Other experts meanwhile point to the need for purpose instead of passion. It focuses on why we do what we do and can be a pursuit of something beyond ourselves. It is also prevalent in the Japanese concept of ikigai, which refers to something that gives our life worth, meaning or purpose.
The conceptions around ikigai vary though. Some would argue that a “sweet spot” in the pursuit of ikigai should involve something we are passionate about, are good at, something those around us need, and something we would be paid for. Others point to a more personal sense of fulfilment without the need to be compensated in any way other than mental wellbeing and personal satisfaction.
These variations aside, there is general agreement that finding this motivating purpose in life, and by extension at work, will generate greater fulfilment and happiness.