Passion at Work - Real Life Stories

Many of you, I’m sure, celebrated Valentine’s Day this past weekend and recognized that much acclaimed passion in your significant relationship. That emotion that takes hold of us and makes everything else seem less of a priority can and does happen in the workplace, as I’ve been discussing this month. Read on for some real-life stories about people who absolutely LOVE what they do for a living.

*A dynamic grandma and former real estate professional is now heading a thriving non-profit business based on the concept of teaching kids the importance of self worth and appreciation of themselves and others on a world-wide scale.
*A woman who for 10 years worked in her family’s construction business and thought she’d found her niche. Then she realized that her new church activities were taking up lots of her time and found she didn’t mind that a bit. After analysis of the possibilities over a 6 month period, she is now happily entrenched in seminary school so she can build a career on helping people in a spiritual sense.
*An entrepreneur at heart whose career in selling business planning and management tools to small business owners developed into her own company for helping small businesses flourish and reach their goals with the aid of her experience and passion for other entrepreneurs.
*A former marketing executive in corporate and non-profit America had health issues which caused rethinking of his future. A lifelong passion for a healthy environment paved the way to opportunities in using his skills and expertise for the benefit of a large utility company and their ventures with the construction industry.
*A woman who thought her ideal career as a business coach would take her into retirement eventually realized that her true passion and talents were better suited to helping women transform their personal and professional lives. She now has her own successful coaching practice.
*A small business owner whose labor-intensive company was zapping his time and energy so much so that there was not much left after hours for his young family. He successfully made the switch to becoming a full time employee elsewhere so he could be more a part of his wife and kids’ lives on a daily basis.
*A professional man passionate about mentoring young adults in their careers, now leads a team of young engineers and is considered one of the most successful departments in a manufacturing company and looked to as the example to follow.

What do all these stories have in common? They identified their passions, persevered in integrating them, and held the desire to live life full out thus creating more meaning and satisfaction. Proof that it can be done and is happening right in front of us to people we see everyday. How about you?

To Do this Week: Review this month’s messages about passion and pick one activity that will help incorporate yours into your work life. Talk to someone who’s living their work dream and learn their story. Figure out how you can have some of that! Then write your own passion story and feel the reward and satisfaction. It’s well worth the effort.