Today I read an article on Fast Company's website titled 8 Rules for Creating a Passionate Work Culture and it got me thinking about how to optimize my daily work environment. Then I read another blog written by Manish Gupta entitled "Work with Passion" and found even more inspiration.
Lately I've been struggling with settling into a new job and getting used to new co-workers, a new boss, using new databases and trying to work with new vendors. Add on a new commute and working in a new cubicle after 6 years of working from home and I'm left with a whole new work life. It's a lot to adjust to and lately I've felt less than passionate about my work life.
PAUL ALOFS' article helped me realize that it takes a real commitment to create a passionate work place environment. He references Ken Thomson and this very wealthy Canadian businessman's commitment to value the simple things in life as well as in business. "He bought off-the-rack suits and had his old shoes resoled. Yet he had no difficulty paying almost $76 million for a painting" He knew the value of things and spent his money on things he was passionate about (investing, art, business) and saved his money on things that just got him from A to B (groceries, shoes, suits).
This level of commitment to invest in your passion is not just for the employer, but also for myself as the employee to optimize my work space and invest in things that I am passionate about in my own life.
In this way, I've devised a list of my own 8 Rules for Creating a Passionate Life at Work
1. Surround yourself with the right people
Befriend co-workers with passion and commitment first, experience second, and credentials third. You should try to find people who are interested in the same things you are. You don’t want to be simply a stepping stone as someone works their way up the corporate ladder, but rather a true colleague who you both find mutual benefit from working together.
2. Communicate
Once you have surrounded yourself with the right people, meet with them regularly and discuss your projects. Knowing what team members are working on and discussing projects builds a level of trusted community and is crucial in developing mutually beneficial relationships at work. Ask for what you need from others, adjust to issues that are identified, discuss ways to rectify problems and find solutions together - whether it be over a casual lunch or in a regularly scheduled business meeting.
Listening is an equal part in communication. Listening to what your co-worker's needs are, hearing what frustrates them about business processes, understanding their pain points is so important to discover how to find solutions to alleviate those problems and create harmony in the work place.
3. Tend to the weeds
Sometimes you run across co-workers who's passions are not your own. These people may create frustration and stress on your work day. Try to understand their motivation for the unpleasant behavior. Are they insecure and threatened by your work? Are they generally unhappy people that have a tendency to whine and complain? First, try to distance yourself from interacting with these negative people as much as possible. Second, try to feel compassionate towards them and show kindness to them in the face of their troubles. Third, realize that there are usually a few bad apples in almost every bunch and part of a healthy work life is learning how to work around these "speed bump" people.
4. Work Life Balance
A good work ethic should be coupled with a good play strategy. I tend to do my best work under pressure and will work long hours when necessary. Conversely, I also need to schedule in in several play breaks during my day to play a round of scrabble on Words with Friends or hit the gym after an especially strenuous day at the office. Remembering to unwind after giving 100% mental effort during the day is so important to remind me why I do it all over again the next day.
5. Be Inspired & Ambitious
Keep striving to be better, do better, see more, learn more. Having dreams and goals to work towards help push you along in those dreary, boring times in the office. Being inspired helps you see the bigger picture, knowing that you have what you need to achieve your passions.
“Oh, it's delightful to have ambitions. I'm so glad I have such a lot. And there never seems to be any end to them-- that's the best of it. Just as soon as you attain to one ambition you see another one glittering higher up still. It does make life so interesting.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
6. Diversify & innovate
Shakespeare said it best, "Variety is the spice of life". Interacting with people in different departments who work in different fields from your own is part of what stimulates the learning centers in the brain and causes Dopamine to release, where you get those "feel good" vibes. Meeting new people, discussing new projects, learning new methodologies can excite the everyday mundane existence that many people often tire of in their own little cubicle at the office. Get out of your own little space and meet some people, join a work sporting group, participate in a volunteer effort, go to a conference. You never know who you'll meet that could stimulate you on to greatness! Innovation stems from learning, and communicating with those who know different things from your own knowledge base can be just the nudge you need.
7. Attitude Adjustment
Happiness is a choice one makes everyday. Not happy with your job? Feeling frustrated with your co-workers? Is your boss not supportive? Changing all that can be as simple as changing your mind to think positive. Bring some cheerful flowers to your office to remind you of the life outside the office. Remember how many people are unemployed and out of work and would do anything to have the job you have. Be grateful for the benefits your job offers you both financially and professionally and remind yourself of all the good things that come from hard work. Make this attitude adjustment and decide to be happy and find ways to solve the things that annoy you in the work place. And if it truly is an abusive work environment with no real hope for change, then YOU make the decision to change your work situation. Find a new job, change departments, go back to school to learn a new trade. The way that you perceive the world will be reflected back at you. If you give the universe a positive attitude, it will respond with positive experiences.
8. Play the long game
Like great wine, true passion takes time. An article in The Telegraph points out that "Good things come to those who wait, Scientist Say" may well be true. Recent research has found that a "person has the ability to resist an on the spot reward and delay it for months or even years if it means a better return in the future..." Simply by vividly imagining a better future one can delay impulse choices and which can then lead to better well being in the long run. Hoping for a better work life is one thing, having faith that it WILL HAPPEN if you give your best is quite another. Realizing the difference in having Hope vs. having Faith can lead to a lifetime of peace both at work and in your everyday life. Read Hope vs. Faith in this Gaiam blog by Cynthia James.
Yvetta Fedorova 
