Passion Fruit

Written on 3:00 PM by B

I know two kinds of working people. Those who are happy to keep doing what they are doing for as long as they go undisturbed and those who are always looking for an opportunity to do something better! We won’t judge the former, but I like the second kind of person more.

In this day, people who switch jobs often are termed: “job-hoppers.” According to most sources, people aged 18 to 38 change jobs an average of 10 times (that’s once every 2 years!). This is not a bad thing if the changes lead to discovery of more engaging and more challenging opportunities. Change, is apparently quite good for maintaining the passion you have for what you do. The opportunity seekers understand this and some do it well.

In his article: It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Much You Want It, David Maister explains it this way:

If you truly want to succeed (and many people do not want it badly enough to make it happen) then you must never settle, never give up, never coast, never just accept what is, even if you are currently performing at a high level.

If what you have now isn’t what you dream (or dreamed) of, then you must keep looking, experimenting, and adapting. You must always search for the next thing you think you can feel passionate about, so that you will have a burning reason to show the discipline and drive that will distinguish you.

Once you have found something to try, you must then throw yourself into it and work at it with as much commitment as you can muster until you can answer three questions:

¨ Is it as exciting as I thought it was going to be?

¨ Is there a market for this? (Will anyone pay me to do it?) and

¨ Can I make a contribution that others are not (yet) making?

All three must be present to succeed. If any component is missing you must move on.

I’m only on my first job in the real world and it’s a shame I’ll have to move forward because I quite like it here but as soon as my dream opportunity comes around, I’ll happily hop on that train!