Is Passion Overrated? The Career Advice Nobody Wants to Hear

0:00I realize it's been a few minutes since you've heard a ZipRecruiter ad, and I know you're probably chomping at the bit to hear another one. So, here goes. Only this one is different. I'm not gonna tell you about ZipRecruiter's matching technology or their new feature that connects employers with interested, qualified candidates fast. Instead, on behalf of ZipRecruiter, I'm going to give this time back to you. Do with it what you will. Relish it. Let it really sink in.

0:42wasn't that nice okay now that you're back if you really want to maybe you could go to ziprecruiter.com zip to try it for free which is the same price as some much needed quiet time again that's ziprecruiter.com zip Welcome to Reworking with Tim Campbell, the podcast that helps you make work, work better. Today it's just me answering your questions from social media, LinkedIn and email. If you've ever wondered whether it's time for a new role, struggle with self-belief or found yourself stuck in a tricky situation at work, this one's for you. I've spent more than two decades in business and if there's one thing I know, it's that nobody has work completely figured out.

1:24I'm not a financial advisor or a career guru, but I do have plenty of lessons from my own journey and from the brilliant guests who have shared theirs on this show. For more insights between episodes, sign up for the Reworking newsletter. Follow the podcast wherever you listen and find us on social media at Reworking Podcast. Now, let's dive into today's questions and unpack some of the biggest career challenges we've all come up against.

1:55Our first question is from Henry in London. He says, everyone says, follow your passion, but what if I don't have one? Oh, that's very interesting. Lots of people talk about passion and they think it's the best thing since sliced bread. For me, I think passion is overrated. The best example I can give is in my own marriage. I talked about it with one of our guests, Angela Duckworth, in our conversation about motivation and situational environments. when I first met my wife I was obsessed with her she wore all black she had knee-high boots you name it and I saw her in a party and I just fell in love with her and I remember in the first couple of years that passion was really really strong but very quickly life gets in the way you get pulled in different directions things start to interrupt the natural flow of things and what you find is particularly when I had the habit of leaving the toilet seat up or leaving my socks on the floor the passion my wife sometimes had for me can sometimes vary, shall we say.

2:50But the reality is that what kept us focused on each other was our shared values. It's the things that we agreed that would not be subject to how passionate we felt. That was our purpose in terms of our relationship, which was to grow a loving environment for our children to know that they were always valued, they saw the power of good communication, and respect between two people was really important. How that translates into work, I think exactly is parallel. You should be in an environment where you are respected. You should be in a place where people have your best interests at heart. And you should be able to say when things don't work without risk or danger of being isolated or told to leave.

3:30So for me, I think passion is nice, but it can just be the catalyst. What you want to focus on is where do you spend most of your time and what brings you joy. If you can focus on that last bit, you'll find out exactly what you need to be doing and where your passion will flow. Our next question is from Lucinda from Newcastle. She asks, can ambition become unhealthy? Oh, this is a tough one. I think the thing with ambition, it's good to have a target or a focus of where you want to put your energy. That's positive. The challenge is in the world of work, targets often move. Things change or you acquire the thing that you're aiming for.

4:10And the question then becomes, when are you ever going to be content? So before you have this focus on ambition, which can be scary for some people, it should be about what is important to me and why am I doing this? The ambition then comes from a place of something positive, something that you can clearly articulate is going to take you forward. All too often in the world of work, people are ambitious for just ambitious sake. They're competing against other people and with no clear destination of what's enough or when they'll get sufficient reward out of the activity that they're putting in. And here's the thing that lots of people don't say, but I think is important.

4:47Ambition can be addictive and addictions can be negative. Sometimes it's important to keep them in check and focus on what's in it for you, not because somebody says that this is what you should be doing. The one test I always have about ambition is this. If I achieve the things that I'm aiming for, when I got them, would I be content? If the answer's no, then that ambition is negative because the whole thing should be about focused and getting you to a certain point and you should be satisfied by that because that's what you're putting your effort into. So in answer to your question, can ambition be unhealthy?

5:20Yes, but it also can be really positive.

5:33our last question is from Wayne via the reworking podcast on socials he said what do you do if you're good at your job but you don't enjoy it oh my gosh I think this must be horrible um there are a lot of people who are doing stuff that doesn't bring them any joy and that must be really painful particularly when you're rewarded and celebrated for it. I think there are lots of people who really suffer for this way so it's a great question. The reality is that there's a lot of people who are really good at what they do but that's not what they want and that can be okay. Let me explain why. There is a real big difference between people who live to work and those who work to live and all too often people get focused on the latter.

6:17Now for me I do all the things that I'm doing because I actually enjoy them and they bring me about the things that I want in my life, choices, options, the ability to go on holidays, share time with my family but that is aligned with things that I actually want to do. The challenge is if you're in a position where you're working to live and you don't enjoy that work you've got to ask yourself is there some alternative where I can do both because I honestly think there is. Having a look at your skills, having a look at your talents, having a look at the things that you do really well, is there an opportunity for that to be aligned with something that you're really passionate about?

6:55So for example, there could be an analyst who's working in the city and their sole job is to manage and observe spreadsheets and make sure they're all refined. And they hate it, but they are obsessed in their five to nine time with doing stuff in the gaming industry. they're addicted to certain games there must be an opportunity to take those skills and see if they're transferable is there a game company that's looking for somebody who's really pedantic in a positive way who can make sure and assure that all the processes are checked before any game or coding bits go to the next stage you could align a skill that you've built up in an environment that you're not too pleased about and align it with something that's much more positive so I think we need to sometimes take a step back if you don't enjoy the work think about how can the skills i have in this role be valuable with somewhere else where i might enjoy it more think about other potential industry sectors where you can align what you're good at with something that you actually enjoy there's a hidden issue with this as well sometimes when you're good at stuff people just overload you with that thing because they know that you're reliably going to get it done i'm not saying you should hide what your skills are but you have to be in control of the destination point because if i see that you're good at something, I'm just going to give you more of it because that helps me.

8:13You're the one who has to take control and think about what do you want to do and where do you want to do it. So that's what I think you should do. If you're great at a job but don't necessarily enjoy it, make sure you can find a place where you can enjoy it.

8:30If you enjoyed today's episode, please share it with someone you think might find it useful too. We're on a mission to help as many people as possible make work feel more fulfilling and a lot less complicated than it sometimes seems. If you'd like more ideas, insights and practical advice between episodes, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter. It's a great way to stay connected and get fresh content delivered straight to your inbox. And finally, thank you for spending some of your time with me today. I always love hearing from listeners. So if there's a question you'd like me to tackle on a future episode, just drop me an email at reworking at bowermedia.co.uk.

9:05You might even hear your question featured on the show Thanks for listening and I'll see you again very soon