What is passion? We talk about having passion in love, in our beliefs, in our values, in our work, in our voices and in our
writing. Most of us can identify something that we are passionate about, whether it's a person, place, religion, or hobby. But what does it really mean to be passionate about something? The dictionary defines passion as such:
Passion: A strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something. (Merriam-webster.com)
So passion is not necessarily something we have; it's something we feel with our whole being. It's organic and natural. It's a part of this being human thing that we do. It can't be forced or faked. Passion is powerful, and it's important that we have it in our lives.
Steve Jobs talked about the importance of passion in work during his resonating commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005:
"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle."
Whatever your feelings about Steve Jobs or his work, he was on to something. Most of us spend a large part of our days doing some sort of work. How many of us can say that we are satisfied in our work, or that we love what we do? How many of us would say that the work we do is great? Many of us choose to settle. It usually has nothing to do with passion and everything to do with safety. We choose the steady job with the steady paycheck and the steady benefits. We lose touch with what makes us feel enthusiastic or excited and get used to not feeling anything at all.
Jobs was an example of someone who was lucky enough to find what he was passionate about early on, and he spent his entire life doing work he believed in. It's not that easy for everyone, especially if we've spent a great deal of time doing work that doesn't make us feel anything. Over time, it becomes harder to remember what it was that used to give us energy and enthusiasm. Later in his speech, Jobs said:
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"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."
Our passions already exist within us. They are the essence of who we are. We just have to start taking them seriously, breathe a little life into them, and watch them take off.
I recently came across some simple and yet powerful advice by the writer and teacher, Natalie Goldberg, that is consistent with the message Jobs was trying to relay in his speech:
"Trust in what you love, continue to do it, and it will take you to where you need to go."
Find your passion. It doesn't have to be in work, but it's a good place to start.
Great article and reminder that I need to keep looking for my passion.