Word Of the Week #30: Passion
April 21, 2009 by Susan Clarke
Passion: an intense, overwhelming or driving emotion.
Deep Passion
Do you have a burning desire that keeps you up at night? Do you love your job? Do you love your life? Passion is the flame that keeps the fire burning!
You can be passionate in all areas of your life. People who love their work and are driven by their passion, never feel like they have a job. It is a pleasure! The same thing applies to our personal relationships. It shouldn’t be difficult. Of course, in that situation, it requires both people to have passion! I don’t believe you should “work” at relationships. I believe you need to “play” in your relationships.
This week ask yourself, “What am I passionate about?” If it’s with regard to work, how do you intend to ignite the flame in your people? For example, if your passionate about giving the best service, it takes everyone in the operation to create that. If you’d like to have more passion in your personal life, ask yourself, “How can I play more in my relationships?”
Reader Responses
“Well, I do love my job (career) very much and have so, since I first started at age 11, in my families place. The burning desire is to create a contagious fun atmosphere and your emails help me do this. Keep up the great work.” –Doug K. Zellers
“Without “Passion” the people will perish. I completely agree with your WOW this week!
I am always talking with my staff about having passion. I recently went through the process of hiring a new Executive Chef. After reviewing 160 resumes, calling 20 on the phone with a phone interview and flying 5 in for a personal interview, where we had them also cook for our Committee (made up of 7 Managers and 5 Committee – Members) the Chef that won the job was the one who talked about having passion and love for food. This is the Chef I wanted! Six months have passed and he is still doing excellent, our food revenues are 6% ahead of budget and 13% ahead of prior year. Perhaps Passion does have something to do with the big picture……………………… Oh, yes, one more thing, most importantly, our members are very pleased with the food and he is well liked by his staff. Very interesting what this thing called Passion will do for us……………” — Don Vance
“This one is my FAVORITE. It is good to be passionate in all aspects of life. You are an EXCELLENT model for this!” — Jennifer Dal Poggetto
“I have been very fortunate to have passion both in my business and personal life. I love my clients and the services that I provide to them. I think one of the reasons I enjoy working with speakers and coaches so much, is the fact that they are passionate about what they do, which in turn, fuels my passion in my service to them.
I didn’t find that passion in the hearts of the clients I served before I decided to specialize in speaker/coach support, and it made a difference in my own passion toward my business. In my personal life, my husband fuels my passion. He is just a joy to be around and is my best friend. In great contrast to a previous relationship of 23 years, the past 9 years have been a great joy.” — Terry L. Green
“Thanks Susan, your words always seem to hit home for me, but I really like PASSION and your description of it! Keep those inspirations coming!” — Donna Kendrena