Work Your Passion
Written
by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com
“Chase your passion, not your pension.” Denis Waitley
“ The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on
fire.”
Field Marshal Ferdinand Foch
Field Marshal Ferdinand Foch
“When you set yourself on fire, people love to come and see
you burn.”
John Wesley
John Wesley
I have two daughters
and three sons. The boys all have good jobs, work hard and support themselves
and their families, although one son is still a bachelor and is living it to
the hilt!
Although the boys all
do well, not one of them is really working their passion. They are working a
job. Yes, they make money and they get through the day. But they don’t love
what they do and they are in danger of settling, of locking themselves into a dead
end, soul crunching work rhythm.
It always starts out
with the idea that you will work in the job until you find something better,
something “you want to do”. The problem is, once you have a partner and
children you begin to lose that flexibility. Now you have to bring home the
bacon and outside forces (read-your partner) assert themselves. Now it is not
so easy to just say “take this job and shove it”. You start to let go of that
need for heat, for passion. The “real” world steps in.
This is where my
boys currently find themselves. They have their passions. They know what they
truly want. They just haven’t found a way to make the break yet.
But they will.
My two girls on the
other hand have found their passion and are working it hard.
Since she was a
little girl, my older daughter has loved animals. She just has a connection
with them.
Since high school and
through college she always worked in retail. She has always been given a lot
responsibility and she never misses work. She never calls in sick and is a valued
employee. But she was so tired of trying to manage a business where employees
don’t want to work, don’t want to wait on customers, steal and generally create
a wasteland in terms of work environment. She began to hate it.
So she decided to go
back to school and become veterinary assistant. She recently completed her
schooling and as a part of her degree was required to work as an intern (they
call it externship) in a veterinary clinic, which she did for 8 weeks.
She loved her classes.
She maintained a 3.8 GPA the entire time. She never missed a class even though
she had to drive over 50 miles a day round trip to class.
As I watched her go
through this process, I knew she was in her groove. I also told her when she began
working in her externship that whomever she worked for would love her and offer her a job.
And sure enough that’s
exactly what happened. The clinic she did her externship with loved her and she was hired full time. Now, besides making a lot more money than she did before, she loves her work. She can’t wait to get to the clinic every day.
She has found her groove.
My other daughter has
always loved fashion. She loves hair and makeup. She is a bit of fashionista and always dresses and looks perfect. All her girlfriends in high
school looked up to her and she always had requests to help other girls with their
makeup for the school dances and proms.
It became clear after
high school that she would pursue a career in cosmetology. She is now half way
through her schooling and absolutely loves it. She gets up early and heads off to school.
She never misses class. She is already creating a following. She has a talent for it and people love her. She is constantly receiving offers to show up at events and photo shoots to
do hair and makeup, which she does for free.
She is online many
hours every day looking at makeup artists and stylists showing their newest
techniques and ideas. She is obsessed. She will also be very successful.
So both my girls are
in their grooves, living and working their passion. I don’t know how it worked
out that way but it did.
The boys are a work
in progress. I give them encouragement and always support them but I have to
stand back and let them find their own way. And sooner or later, they will.
Are you where you
want to be? If not, when will you be?
