passionate about at work

4 Things To Be Passionate About in Your Daily Work

Perhaps you’re passionate about your job. Maybe your job is a means to an end – you don’t dislike it, and it allows you to pursue interests outside of the office. But what about your daily work? Do you find things to be passionate about while you go about your day and carry your responsibilities?

There is a difference between being passionate about your career as a whole and feeling passion while working. “Passion for your career is excitement for the bigger dream and vision you have for your professional goals and ambitions. It’s the sum of the parts of your jobs and day-to-day work, and often keeps you motivated, driven and ‘on purpose’ when things may not always be perfect,” says certified career coach Matt Mills.

According to him, having that kind of longer-term vision allows you to be more open-minded about change and opportunities as you develop your career. Realistically, being passionate about your daily tasks can be more challenging. “Because they are often tasks that are required as part of your job, and in service of an organization or someone else’s needs, passion doesn’t always come as easy. In order to be passionate about them, you have to find how those tasks fit into, and lead to, your bigger career vision that really lights you up,” he adds.

The good news is, even if you’re still exploring that big career vision, you can spark passion in your day-to-day routine by being more intentional about the way you engage with your work. Here are four things to be passionate about regardless of your professional situation.

1. Your underlying why

Your underlying “why” can be the fuel that propels you during moments when you don’t feel motivated. Ask yourself, “Why am I doing this?”

“For some people, it might be to pay the bills and feed their family. For others, it might be to change the world. There is no wrong reason, but asking why will help you connect with the value that is driving your motivation,” says Kate Snowise, executive coach and founder of the boutique coaching consultancy Thrive.How. “This is the passion point. Remembering your why can really help you pull on your passion (what really matters to you) when you need it to carry you through. “

2. The impact you have on others

“Anything that not only serves you, but also makes an impact on others, will create more passion in your work,” says Mills. And there is no need to work for an NGO to feel like you’re making a difference. “Whose life are you making better through your product or contribution?” says Snowise. From coworkers to clients, you are probably impacting more people than you think just by showing up and doing your job.

“You might be passionate about helping a colleague overcome a challenge that you have particular insight or expertise on. You might be passionate about performing, so you can look for ways to present in meetings or give talks on the work you’re doing. If your genius and passion lies in helping things get organized, look to see if there’s a project where you can put your organizational skills to good use,” adds Mills.

3. Bringing your values into your work

Mills also recommends reflecting on what you value and brainstorming ways to integrate it in the things you currently do. “It’s not always about the actual task, but how it makes you feel that matters,” he says. “Identify what makes you feel good and lights you up in other areas of your life, and see how you can create those feelings through your work.”

For example, if you love writing in your spare time, you may value expressing your creativity. If you are passionate about teaching yoga, it may fulfill a desire for peace, wellbeing, and service. Consider how you can bring the values that fire you up into your work. How can you be more creative or sprinkle your drive for serving others into collaboration and teamwork?

4. The ability to connect

The ability to connect can be a powerful source of daily passion too. “Through our work we are usually in some way connecting with others, and connecting is a driving human need,” according to Snowise.

From taking the time to break the ice with a client before getting straight to business to participating in team-building activities or getting to know remote coworkers through an internal communications platform, there are plenty of ways to tap into small moments of connection on a daily basis.