We’ve all heard the saying ‘do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life’. However, what if you were once passionate about your job but, as time went on, your passion dwindled little by little until your heart just isn’t in it anymore?
Today, we are going to take a look at ways to help you bring back your passion.
Start with why
by Simon Sinek
⏱ 14 minutes reading time
🎧 Audio version available
There’s nothing that will give you the feeling of fulfillment quite like pursuing something you’re passionate about. The sense of progress that it gives you will be the motivation you need to keep going, whether you’re working your dream job or mastering a skill you’ve always wanted to learn about. Passion is what will drive you to do your best and be at the top of your game.
On the flip side, when you lose your passion– it can be really challenging. That loss of passion will affect your productivity and performance, and you’ll be one of the many who find it dreadful to go to work every day– but it doesn’t have to be this way.
You chose a career path that you once thought you were passionate about, only to find you hate it months later. But, why did that happen? How could the fiery passion, that was once burning inside you, completely disappear?
It’s Not a Bad Thing to Want Change
We’re here to break it to you; it’s completely okay to lose your passion for work. It happens to the best of us. However, it’s not the end of the world, and there are ways that can help you reignite your passion and give you a reason to get out of bed. And if that’s not possible, there’s still a way that will help you tackle this issue, which is by taking a completely different approach.
Priorities change constantly, and there comes a time where you’ve just moved on. This also applies to jobs; oftentimes, it just feels like your job isn’t giving you the same sense of fulfillment that it once did and is no longer meaningful to you.
In this situation, there’s no reason to want to revive your old passion. It feels like you’re stuck in life with absolutely no purpose. But, what you might not know is that finding another job that you’re passionate about isn’t impossible. It’s no walk in the park, but once you find it, nothing can stop you.
Find the Root of the Problem
The first step of finding the root of the problem isn’t finding it, it’s admitting to yourself that you’ve lost your passion.
Being in denial won’t do you any good, and there are telltale signs to look for that you’ve lost your passion.
You always find yourself exhausted at work, no matter how many hours you slept the previous day or how many cups of coffee you’ve had. And, when the alarm goes off in the morning, you’ll find yourself reaching for the snooze button immediately and repeatedly.
Additionally, you appreciate the time you waste in commuting and traffic more than the time you spend at work. You stretch out your lunch hour as much as you can and feel like it isn’t much of a break anyway. It has been years since you’ve been promoted at your job, and you’ve gotten to a point where you tell yourself that promotions aren’t good in your position.
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
If your answer is yes, chances are, you’ve lost your passion for work–and it’s okay to admit that to yourself. But instead of wallowing in misery, try to find the reason that caused you to be in this position. There’s no doubt that some things will need to change in order to reignite your passion, but you must first pinpoint what went wrong.
Once you figure out what has caused your loss of passion, you can start making changes.
Take a Break
If you’ve ever found yourself coming home after a long day of work, completely drained of energy and already dreading the next day – the same work that once excited you – then most likely, your body is telling you that you’re exhausted and stressed. Perhaps it’s the controlling boss or the stressful work environment, there are a zillion reason that can sap your energy way and affect you physically and mentally.
So, the best way to tackle this issue is to take a break– and we’re don’t mean a two or three day break, we’re talking about a break that will create a real psychological transformation to reset your mindset.
The length of the break is up to you; however, it’s important to get as far away from home and workplace as you possibly can. This will create a mental shift for you and help you regain your focus and reignite your love and passion.
Challenge Yourself
As we’ve previously mentioned, your job being too stressful or exhausting might be one of the main reasons that you’ve lost your passion for it and even come to loathe it. But, on the opposite side of the spectrum, the lack of passion might be caused by lack of interest. Or, in other words, it’s become too boring.
When it comes to working, it’s important to challenge yourself and discover your true potential. And, it’s equally important to find a balance between challenging and not overstressing yourself. The fine line between these two will create a state of mind that will help you focus on your work, and at the same time, enjoy doing it.
Seek Out Support
It’s possible that, despite trying to revive your passion, you still feel like everything leads you back to square one. You might be in a situation where your lack of passion has resulted in you isolating yourself, trying to figure out what to do.
Instead of disconnecting yourself from the world and cutting contact with everyone around you, do the opposite. Reach out to people, especially coworkers, and talk to them. It has been proven that developing friendships with your co-workers increases productivity levels dramatically, so why not confide in them? It’s possible that they’re in the same situation or have been through it and found a solution that helped them.
Or, better yet, seek out support from a mentor or someone who’s in a place that you’re trying to reach. Ask for their guidance and support, and make it a habit of reaching out to them every once in a while to help you gain new insights.
Connect With Your Emotions
Losing your passion might be something that is much deeper than being stressed or no longer finding your work interesting; it might be associated with your own emotions.
Dig deep within yourself to get to the bottom of this; is there something that’s weighing you down that has been causing this? Are you holding on to negative emotions that cloud your judgment?
Negative emotions never do you any good, so let them go. There’s no denying that it’s easier said than done, but when you go about life with the right perspective and state of mind, it’ll be much easier to find that fiery passion and rekindle it.
Focus on the Long-Term
Generally, in our lives, there are going to be things that we love and things that we hate. This rule applies to work as well, and it’s not uncommon for the things that we hate to sap our energy and time.
Whether it’s the overwhelming number of deadlines or piles of paperwork, these things might be the last things you want to do. These things might be the sole reason you are losing your passion, so it’s important not to get too caught up by minute things that are a part of your work.
When you focus on the long-term, that will completely change your perspective and help you recognize your goals and achieve them instead of focusing on the small bumps in the road.
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