Pay or Passion: Which Comes First?

I have always considered myself extremely lucky throughout my career to be doing something that I have had a real passion and love for. For me personally, nothing will ever replace the thrill of creating a business from scratch and then continually moving it forward on to the next stage of its journey.

There have of course been setbacks, frustrations and disappointments along the way – but the successes have always more than made up for the failures.

Sadly, not everyone feels the same way about their work and there are plenty of people out there who go into the office every day and go through the motions. Of course, we all have to pay the bills and it would be na?ve to think that money is not a major factor for people when they are deciding who or where it is they are going to work.

But the difference between having a fulfilling career and having a job is personal motivation. I would suggest that if you are really serious about forging a great career and being truly successful in your chosen line of work, then you have need to be passionate about it. More often than not you will find that the people at the top of a profession are the ones who are 100% committed to it.

This then shines through in every aspect of their work, such as their interactions with clients and customers. Imagine if somebody came in to pitch their product or service to you. If you could see they had a genuine passion for what they were doing, wouldn’t you be more likely to buy into them? People might be able to feign enthusiasm but sooner or later the ones who are completely committed will stand out from the crowd.

Last month I was speaking to somebody in one of my recruitment businesses who has been there for 12 years. Having started as a consultant he has worked his way up to manage a whole division, and to this day he still has an incredible passion for his job and sector. He told me that on his very first day he felt like he belonged there and was doing exactly what he wanted. When I asked him what he looks for in staff that he’s hiring, his answer was very simple – he wants to find people that experience the same feeling he did.

You may be in a situation where you don’t actually know what your passion is. There are a number of ways you can determine this though – look at your skill set and pick out the things you like doing best. Think about activities you enjoy doing and see how many of them correlate with viable jobs.

As an individual it is always worth asking yourself some serious and honest questions about your approach to your job. Take a close look and ask yourself if it excites and challenges you enough. If the answer is no, then maybe the time has come to start thinking about a new job or even a completely new line of work. Depending on your circumstances it may be a big risk – but some of the most successful careers have been launched because people have taken a leap of faith.

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