Even if you love your job, it’s not always possible to feel passionate all the time. However, a study has concluded that you can feel passion more often if you combine it with doing something meaningful.
To feel passion for one’s job is important for many, to feel that what we do drives us forward and makes us happy. With what exactly is the trick to holding on to that feeling more often? Morten t. Hansen, a professor at the University of California, has in his five-year study studied 5000 employees and managers to find out what it is that makes them continue to feel passion for their work.
He concluded that it is important that people, in addition to feeling passion, also feel that their work has a purpose. This means that they can do an even better job!
“Some people not only strive to feel passion in their career, but they also manage to combine passion with a clear purpose at work – they contribute, help others, make a difference. While the passion is ‘doing what you love’, the purpose is ‘to contribute’. As my research shows – people who pair their passion with a purpose in this way perform much better than those who don’t,” explains Hansen.
Hansen believes that there are many indications that these people perform better because of how much effort they put into their work.
“Having a clear purpose at work clearly shows how much effort people put into their work each hour at work, rather than the total number of hours they work”.
You therefore have a better chance of performing well at work, and being successful, if you feel passion for what you do and feel that what you do is meaningful.
“You activate positive emotions such as joy, elation, inspiration and hope. Everything that gives you more energy and it allows you to do everything better at work.”
In the study, Hansen also concluded that this is not just limited to certain industries. If you feel that you lack this combination, the solution does not have to be to change jobs, but instead to try to find meaning in what you do.
“Combining your passion with a purpose makes your job more interesting, and you will likely perform much, much better.”
Source: MyDomaine
