Passionate or Competitive?
When we decide to do something, we rarely ask ourselves why we are doing it. We usually do it because we have to out of responsibility or our work, or we like to do it as a hobby or pastime we enjoy.
The things that we have to do, like earn money, pay bills and send our children to school are responsibilities. We rarely have much of a choice in the matter and often do them without any joy at all.
We also do things because others do them. We buy certain cars, pursue certain careers, even live in certain neighbourhoods because others are doing it and we feel like we should too.
This does sound like a bleak way to go through life, and it actually can be worse if others are doing these same things with one particular trait above all others that drives them: passion. The fact is, if you are passionate about your work, you will outlast people who view it as a vehicle to pay their bills because they have no emotional attachment to the work. You, on the other hand, love it and cannot wait to do the best job possible.
The same can be said for anything someone does because they have to. If you are passionate and excited about your home and your neighbours, you will be much happier and motivated to improve it than someone who lives there because they think it is the “right” neighbourhood based on the subjective opinions of others.
We have all met someone who was so passionate about a subject that their enthusiasm was contagious. It did not matter what we thought of the matter before, those people brought it to life with their emotion because they believed in it so much. It could have been about a hobby, a sports team, their career, their country of origin or their car.
It is true that one of the hallmarks of success is taking on more responsibilities, but can we become passionate about them and therefore make our lives more exciting, even if some things are mundane? Yes we can, by being passionate about what we are trying to accomplish.
Rather than view our jobs as a 9 to 5 burden that we do to pay our bills, we can think about the parts of the job we like the most and demonstrate enthusiasm when we do those things, however large or small they may be. We can also concentrate on the results we get when we do a good job, whether it is doing the job well itself or the lifestyle that it pays for that we enjoy.
Rather than feel that we need to drive a particular car, we can just as easily think about the features of it that we enjoy, like the drive, the interior or its appearance.
Being passionate about something can have endless examples and if we can bring passion to most things we do, we will outlast those that are doing something because they have to or feel like they should, and our lives will be more enjoyable.