How to find passion in your work – and sustain it

Passion is commonplace in higher education. We seek educators with a passion to teach, and we encourage students to have a passion to learn, but there is a lack of clarity on what passion really means. In an everyday context, passion can be defined as a powerful, often overwhelming, feeling or desire, but how does this translate to working in higher education? Particularly for staff members whose duties stretch across a multitude of areas and cannot rely on their love for a specialised subject or task. We cannot expect to be motivated or enthusiastic 100 per cent of the time, nor should we try or pretend to be. This is entirely human. However, we can try to gather and maintain passion for our overall work in a productive way to enable success.

Passion is intense, and because of this, it demands energy. Left unchecked and balanced with other commitments, passion can quickly dissolve into burnout. Therefore, in a fast-paced and demanding learning environment, passion by itself it not sustainable. Productive passion requires us to first identify what our passion is, and then to manage, prolong, and optimise it to ensure sustainability for our enthusiasm and ourselves.

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Here are four ways to find and manage your passion in a sustainable way:

1. Determine your vision

Finding passion for your work requires direction, and the first step towards this is to visualise your goals. We all have vision boards in some form or another. It could be the sticky note on the side of your laptop, the to-do list you consult every morning, the notepad and extra-special gold pen you bought for team meetings, the back of a napkin for that brainwave you had with your morning mocha, or simply the “I really must do that” thoughts in your head.

Identify what you would normally use and create a blank version (if you normally work in your head, try working physically for this next step).

Once you have found your medium, it is time to write, scribble, and draw every goal and half-formed idea that pops into your head. Keep going until your mind is empty and your board is overcrowded, disjointed, and chaotic. The more ideas the better, because next you need to start creating connections.

2. Connect and categorise

Next, examine your ideas and decide which ones are broadly “good” – beneficial to students, staff, or institutional goals. Circle similar ideas together, draw a line between connecting ideas (these could end up being the same project) and put exclamation marks (!) next to anything you believe should be high priority.

Now, you need to decide which of your good ideas…

1. You can achieve by yourself now or soon.
2. You can achieve with some help, now or soon.
3. Are currently unachievable.

You have already established your good ideas and have split them into three categories. Add any ideas marked with 1 to your to-do list, these are your immediate goals. Add any ideas marked with 2 to your next team meeting agenda – these can be team projects.

Focus on any ideas marked with a 3 and add a star/smiley face/heart to these ones. It is safe and familiar to choose small and manageable tasks, but your smiley heart star ideas are the opposite of this. These are your “wouldn’t it be great if…” ideas. They may be overly optimistic or seem unattainable, but they are your dream goals, and this is where your passion lies so don’t limit yourself.

3. Small successes and acting now

Take your “wouldn’t it be great if…” ideas and step backwards from them. You’ll be familiar with the repeated advice of breaking down goals into smaller chunks, but it is a cliché for a reason – it works. This is where you can plan your passion through understanding how you will work towards your goal and maintaining your enthusiasm through small successes. Remember, planning is only useful if you put those plans into actions. Your small goal could be to read a piece of literature, to sign up for CPD training, or to have a meeting with a team member to discuss ideas.

4. Consistency is key

Another tried and tested cliché – consistency. Annoyingly, it works very well. Take notice of the smaller goals and even smaller steps and keep moving. You have found your “wouldn’t it be great if…”, your passion, and now you are bringing it into fruition. Passion is reactionary, and can be as powerful as it is fleeting, but consistency and action makes things happen and ensures longevity and progress.

Finally, keep yourself accountable while being kind. Passion, albeit intense and often overwhelming, cannot be valued above mindful productivity and consistency. Take the first steps, value the small successes and remember:

Have a dream > Find a passion > Be consistent > Value the success.

Eleanor Cook is transformative education assistant at the University of Exeter.

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