A person passionate about their work doesn't feel like they're working
7 September 2012
Read by 2203 persons
Express Yourself: Passion is an invaluable asset, but it's not essential for job satisfaction. It takes hold of a person with irresistible force, making them forget the constraints of their situation. Neither good nor bad, it's a prodigious energy to channel.
Whether in love, at work, or outside of work, passion overwhelms a person and carries them intensely to the limits of their desires and will. It's that inexhaustible energy that pushes a person, almost despite themselves, to go further to satisfy their thirst for love, understanding, and achievement. The passionate person is captivated by the object of their passion. They forget their duties because they are seized by this instinctive force that pushes them beyond the constraints of their environment and because they easily accept the difficulty of what they accomplish. Their absolute commitment to the object of their passion tends to divert them from other commitments, so strong is their constant thirst for discovery, knowledge, and experience.
What exactly is this passion? Is it good? Is it bad? In a certain moralizing view, passion is similar to the passions of the soul that degrade a person to their basest instincts by weakening their will. The strong person controls it, the dutiful person masters it, the virtuous person dominates it. In the workplace, passion regains its nobility because it enriches the person with an excess of energy, will, and intelligence. Neither good nor bad, it is a sign of a natural appetite that only needs to be fulfilled, nourished, and satisfied.
The person passionate about their work does what they were made to do without feeling like they are working. They have found their path, meaning the means to their personal fulfillment. They do what they love without forcing themselves or reasoning to love what they do. Someone who works without passion accomplishes their labor out of obligation, will, and duty, while the passionate person forgets they must work. The exercise of their activity attracts them like a game, where pleasure lightens the weight of constraints and stops the passage of time. Free and outside of time, they pursue their passion separately from others, not out of contempt but because of the force of things.
Is passion essential to a person's happiness? Is it necessary for their fulfillment at work? To think so would be absurd, as it would be to moralize something that cannot be decided. It would also be to forget the reality of happy and fulfilled people at work who aren't passionate. Passion is useful as an added benefit that facilitates happiness and accelerates fulfillment. It is discovered through experiences and encounters, imposing itself as self-evident. Touching the person's natural fiber, their talent, it becomes a booster for their will.
Passionate work is work that suits us, work that is aligned with our natural talent and potential. It's work that offers a field to explore, that nourishes our thirst for knowledge, understanding, achievement, or love. Whether manual, intellectual, relational, or artistic, the personal enrichment we derive from it puts the fatigue it generates in second place. It carries with it its inevitable share of constraints, but its interest relativizes them and gives them meaning.
Is passion contagious? Do you have to meet a passionate person to become passionate yourself? The passionate person isn't always captivating, nor is the captivating person always passionate. The captivating person knows how to interest others because they pedagogically convey the experience they have managed to accumulate. The passionate person doesn't always have the necessary pedagogical qualities to interest others and may talk about their activity with an obsession that can bore their audience. Passion is born suddenly, like a click, a discovery, with a vigor that awakens something very instinctive in the person.
Do you have to be passionate to be happy at work? Being involved in a project and enjoying interacting with others are the two conditions for happiness at work. The passionate person is very proactive in boosting a project but may have more difficulty in relationships with others. Passion is a clear advantage that is neither necessary nor sufficient to be happy in one's work. Moreover, it is often exercised outside of work, and when it becomes work, economic imperatives make its exercise more constraining.
Discovering your passion is not a decision. This can be done either by meeting a passionate person who testifies to their activity, or by the direct experience of an activity that fulfills a natural and instinctive aspiration within us. While discovering your passion is a great opportunity, there are situations that allow for this discovery and that we can seek out. Few people are passionate about their work. More frequent are those driven by ambition. It remains for those who are not passionate to find more interest in it and to work with people who are more passionate than they are.
Philippe Laurent.
Lexpress.fr
Published August 9, 2012.
Posted September 7, 2012.
Whether in love, at work, or outside of work, passion overwhelms a person and carries them intensely to the limits of their desires and will. It's that inexhaustible energy that pushes a person, almost despite themselves, to go further to satisfy their thirst for love, understanding, and achievement. The passionate person is captivated by the object of their passion. They forget their duties because they are seized by this instinctive force that pushes them beyond the constraints of their environment and because they easily accept the difficulty of what they accomplish. Their absolute commitment to the object of their passion tends to divert them from other commitments, so strong is their constant thirst for discovery, knowledge, and experience.
What exactly is this passion? Is it good? Is it bad? In a certain moralizing view, passion is similar to the passions of the soul that degrade a person to their basest instincts by weakening their will. The strong person controls it, the dutiful person masters it, the virtuous person dominates it. In the workplace, passion regains its nobility because it enriches the person with an excess of energy, will, and intelligence. Neither good nor bad, it is a sign of a natural appetite that only needs to be fulfilled, nourished, and satisfied.
The person passionate about their work does what they were made to do without feeling like they are working. They have found their path, meaning the means to their personal fulfillment. They do what they love without forcing themselves or reasoning to love what they do. Someone who works without passion accomplishes their labor out of obligation, will, and duty, while the passionate person forgets they must work. The exercise of their activity attracts them like a game, where pleasure lightens the weight of constraints and stops the passage of time. Free and outside of time, they pursue their passion separately from others, not out of contempt but because of the force of things.
Is passion essential to a person's happiness? Is it necessary for their fulfillment at work? To think so would be absurd, as it would be to moralize something that cannot be decided. It would also be to forget the reality of happy and fulfilled people at work who aren't passionate. Passion is useful as an added benefit that facilitates happiness and accelerates fulfillment. It is discovered through experiences and encounters, imposing itself as self-evident. Touching the person's natural fiber, their talent, it becomes a booster for their will.
Passionate work is work that suits us, work that is aligned with our natural talent and potential. It's work that offers a field to explore, that nourishes our thirst for knowledge, understanding, achievement, or love. Whether manual, intellectual, relational, or artistic, the personal enrichment we derive from it puts the fatigue it generates in second place. It carries with it its inevitable share of constraints, but its interest relativizes them and gives them meaning.
Is passion contagious? Do you have to meet a passionate person to become passionate yourself? The passionate person isn't always captivating, nor is the captivating person always passionate. The captivating person knows how to interest others because they pedagogically convey the experience they have managed to accumulate. The passionate person doesn't always have the necessary pedagogical qualities to interest others and may talk about their activity with an obsession that can bore their audience. Passion is born suddenly, like a click, a discovery, with a vigor that awakens something very instinctive in the person.
Do you have to be passionate to be happy at work? Being involved in a project and enjoying interacting with others are the two conditions for happiness at work. The passionate person is very proactive in boosting a project but may have more difficulty in relationships with others. Passion is a clear advantage that is neither necessary nor sufficient to be happy in one's work. Moreover, it is often exercised outside of work, and when it becomes work, economic imperatives make its exercise more constraining.
Discovering your passion is not a decision. This can be done either by meeting a passionate person who testifies to their activity, or by the direct experience of an activity that fulfills a natural and instinctive aspiration within us. While discovering your passion is a great opportunity, there are situations that allow for this discovery and that we can seek out. Few people are passionate about their work. More frequent are those driven by ambition. It remains for those who are not passionate to find more interest in it and to work with people who are more passionate than they are.
Philippe Laurent.
Lexpress.fr
Published August 9, 2012.
Posted September 7, 2012.
