Alice is a project manager in a big consulting company. Her days are filled with lots of responsibilities and challenges. She has to deal with the project deadlines, project team, client’s expectations, and the project director. Although she seems successful at what she does as a project manager, she does not look happy not because she does not have a good salary but because she becomes exhausted and low energy by noon and literally has no positive energy left by the end of the day. When she gets home she is totally drained.
Alice is a pianist as well. She loves playing piano. The only thing that she does once she gets home from work is playing piano. When she plays piano she is filled with energy. She can play piano forever and not get tired of it. On weekends, Alice teaches piano to adults and even leads a group of musicians in their community very successfully.
If you ask Alice why she becomes drained as project manager she says because she is not passionate about what she does as a project manager despite her good salary. If you ask her why she is filled with energy when she plays piano she says because she has a great passion for music in general and piano in particular.
Although Alice knows what her passion is, she fills her days with a job that she does not have enough passion for and as a result her energy level is not stable.
Alice’s story has an important point. The point is that passion has something to do with our energy level. When we are passionate about an activity, object, or concept, we are filled with positive energy whenever we apply that activity, object, or concept in our life. In contrary, when we have no passion for an activity, object, or concept, our energy is drained whenever we have to deal with that activity, object, or concept in our life.
Alice’s story is the story of many of us. Most people know their true passion and what excites and energizes them, yet they tend to do things that they are not passionate about. They do it because they think they have no other choice but to bear with it!
Oprah Winfrey says: “Passion is energy.” I would say: Passion is the DNA of positive energy. It is what causes you to be energetic and stay energetic. When you tap into your passion, it is like turning the switch of your positive energy generator on.
Kamran Akbarzadeh, PhD
Founder of Dream Achievers Academy
www.dreamachieversacademy.com
