Shortcuts - If Not Passion for the Job, at Least Warm Feelings - NYTimes.com

Shortcuts - If Not Passion for the Job, at Least Warm Feelings - NYTimes.com

If Not Passion for the Job, at Least Warm Feelings
By ALINA TUGEND
Published: September 25, 2009

Excerpts:

I know I’m being somewhat flippant, but I do wonder if passion is being oversold. Are we falling into a trap of believing that our work, and indeed, our lives, should always be fascinating and all-consuming? Are we somehow lacking if we’re bored at times or buried under routine tasks or failing to challenge ourselves at every turn?

Now before I go any further, I know, I know. In these economic times, fewer of us are worried about being fulfilled and more of us are concerned about simply being paid. But as switching jobs and careers becomes increasingly common, as whole professions are disappearing, we’re more frequently forced to ask ourselves what we want to do with the rest of our lives.

That’s where passion comes in.

So first of all, what is it? I turned to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the director of the Quality of Life Research Center at Claremont Graduate University in California, who has looked at the idea, though he calls it “flow.”

“It’s a state of complete involvement,” said Professor Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced CHECK-sent-me-high), who first wrote about this in his book “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience” (Harper & Row, 1990). It’s when we’re totally immersed in our activity, not watching the clock, not thinking of what others think, but simply absorbed in the experience. He first studied it, he said, in relation to activities people chose freely, like chess players, rock climbers and musicians, then later in terms of work and everyday life.

Although Professor Csikszentmihalyi says he does not believe that people can constantly be in a state of flow, he has written a great deal about how it can be encouraged in the workplace and elsewhere. While he outlines a number of factors needed to feel good about your job or life, two of the major ones are a sense of personal control over a situation or activity and a balance between one’s ability and potential so the endeavor is neither too easy nor too hard.

Read full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/26/your-money/26shortcuts.html

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http://dreamlearndobecome.blogspot.com This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.