Following your passion is a great way to succeed in your career—but is this really legitimate? Research says yes—for many reasons.
Passion turns out to be a great accelerator for your career. Journal of Applied Psychology suggests when you tap into your passion, you’re more likely to take actions which drive your growth and success.
You can determine whether you’ve hit upon your passion by tuning into your thoughts and your feelings.
Your Thoughts
In particular, when you are interested and curious about something and when you want to explore, learn more and take action, these are signals you’ve identified a passion. In addition, when you’re passionate about something, you may notice you’re naturally good at it or you find yourself investing time in it, which makes you better as well.
Your Feelings
You also know you’ve tapped into an area of passion when you feel energized by it. You get a sense of heightened emotion and vigor when you’re learning and contributing in your chosen area. And when you’re passionate, you’re likely to feel connected to a bigger picture—believing your efforts matter.
Passion can take many forms, but hallmarks of the experience are thoughts and feelings that give you a sense of dedication, immersion, energy and purpose.
Tapping Into Passion
Passion is fuel for career success because it drives key actions and behaviours. Here are a few things you can do to use your passion.
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Express Professional Courage :
People with passion tend to take risks in their chosen areas of interest. Learning new methods, looking for new ideas and expanding your knowledge. All of these are constructive ways to take risks and leverage the power of your passion.
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Persist :
According to the research, passion also helps you persist in the face of challenges. For example you are running and business, if you are passionate about it, you will face all kind of challenges to keep it going. With passion guiding you, it’s possible to persevere and stick with your interests despite ups and downs. You love your role in sales and despite setbacks, you stay the course and ultimately get the annual award for strongest sales in a down market, paving the way for your next opportunity.
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Align Activities :
Interestingly, when you engage in activities outside of work which bring you joy, you’ll be more likely to perceive greater fulfillment within your work as well. There is a documented spillover effect. So use your passion to motivate your volunteer or personal activities.
If you love to talk to people, find a side hustle in sales or become a promoter of different products or ideas.
We have just introduced a new job opportunity, which can prove to be a very rewarding side hustle. Especially if you are a painter or an artist and have a passion for sales, and would love to help people make a difference in their lives, while creating an additional source of income for yourself, then this is for you. Learn more about our Sales Associate position here.
One More Thing: Consider Your People
One of the reasons passion is so powerful is because it connects you with your people, and you are likely to feel happier when you also feel linked with your community. Statistically, people’s career and volunteer choices tend to be representative of their personalities, so when you take on activities within your area or within your online community, you’ll be connecting with others who have similar interests, concerns and priorities—which in turn will energize you even more.
In Sum
Finding your passion doesn’t have to be hard. Just pay attention to what interests and energizes you. Just make the day-to-day and month-to-month choices which align with what you enjoy and what you do well.
How you spend your moments, is how you spend your life—so spend time on what you like, what you do well and activities which contribute to your community. These will add up to a life which brings you fulfillment and adds to others’ fulfillment, as well.