“I feel sorry for the person who can’t get genuinely excited about his work. Not only will he never be satisfied, but he will never achieve anything worthwhile.” Walter Chrysler
It is easy to dismiss the above quote from the founder of the Chrysler motor corporation because you believe that your work is uninspiring. Before reaching that conclusion take time to observe others at work.
When attending to necessary but mundane tasks whether at an institution with notoriously long queues, or at check out points in stores, it is a win to be served by the person that seems to enjoy interacting with the people that they are serving. Many of you have no doubt been in a queue where a reluctant worker seems to take pleasure out of prolonging the interaction with each customer. You begin silently hoping that you will not have to suffer the apparent indignity of being harassed by a person who seems to begrudge the sun having risen that morning.
Similarly there are those people that take delight in being as efficient and friendly as possible while carrying out their work. They smile and seem to be eager to assist in resolving matters efficiently and cheerfully. People who have the good fortune to be served in this manner quickly forget the long wait and leave the interaction feeling uplifted.
In each situation the person who really gains at the end of each day s the person that is cheerful and enthusiastic – a personal choice. No matter how mundane a job may be the satisfaction that you derive comes from HOW you do the job, not what job you do.
People blessed with pursuing their ideal career or calling feel as burnt out and frustrated as anyone else if their attitude is not one of enthusiasm and excitement. We all have bad days when it is a challenge to maintain high levels of work satisfaction, however it is what we believe that decides how effective and content we are.
The power of being passionate about what you do is that regardless of the financial reward you receive, the promotions or other external benefit that come your way; the true value of enthusiasm is to live each day with a sense of purpose, peace and joy that only a job well done can bring. •