Do You Have Passion for Your Job?

Are you living your passion? Do you feel satisfied and fulfilled with the choices you have made throughout your life and career? If you are like many Americans, the answer is no. According to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive for Age Wave and the Concours Group, only 45 percent of American workers say they are satisfied or extremely satisfied with their jobs. Only 20 percent feel passionate about their jobs.

Some people think that passion and work are not supposed to mix. After all, we work to make a living, not to feed our souls, right? Wrong, says Mary Lyn Miller, a career consultant(职业顾问), author and director of the Life and Career Clinic. In fact, Miller says that finding your passions and living them is vital. She says your passion is part of your "core essence（精神内核）" -- your talents, your gifts, and all of the things that make you who you are. Your passion is your life force or energy. "It's a part of you that you bring to everything you do," she adds.

The problem? Many people ignore their passions when it comes to career choices. After years of meeting deadlines, dealing with stress, and going through the motions, we learn to shut off the connection we have with our passions. But, your true passions never go away; sometimes, you just have to rediscover them.

Here are some of Miller's tips to help you discover -- or rediscover -- your passions and live the life you were meant to live.

1. Reflect on your past(回顾你的过去).
Miller says a great way to identify your real passions is to think about your life, especially your childhood, and identify things that you love. What has given you the most joy? What comes easily to you? Think about your favorite subjects in school or your favorite games as a child. If you loved playing with puppets or putting on plays, you might have a starved performer inside you waiting to get out. Once you identify your predilections（爱好）, you can figure out how to utilize them. For example, the person who is yearning to perform can find opportunities at work for public speaking. "A lot of our passions are right there in front of us," Miller says.

2. Identify your dreams.
If you want to uncover your passions, you need to identify your dreams. Make a list of things that you long to do, things you would do if you had nothing to lose. Miller says it is important to challenge your assumptions. Maybe your dream is to be a dancer on Broadway. Identifying this might not get you all the way to New York City, but it will point you in the right direction. Don't leave something off the list because you think it is not feasible. Sometimes just being willing to identify your dreams opens you up to something new.

3. Look for opportunities to nurture your passions.
Miller suggests picking up a course catalogue from a community college. Look through the classes offered and mark each that elicits a strong reaction in you. Give yourself the opportunity to follow these reactions. If you get a feeling about something, try it. If you are interested in the arts, take an art appreciation class. If you dream of being a photographer, take a photography course. Sing, dance, write – do whatever you feel drawn to. "You have to be willing to do some experimentation," she says.

4. Build a world and lifestyle around your passions.
Miller says that everyone needs to follow the things that motivate and inspire us. She uses the analogy of a seed. Each of us is born with an inner seed and this is where our passions lie. If this seed is deserted, never watered and deprived of sunlight, it will not grow. But, if it is planted in the right environment, it will bloom. Like that seed, you need to put yourself in the right environment. If you yearn to be creative, a conservative corporate environment might not be the best choice. "Look for a work environment that fosters who you really are," says Miller. Once you do, you will find that your passions are able to be expressed more freely, which will lead to more opportunities.

Learning how to live your passion takes time, exploration and the willingness to take chances. The important thing is to start now. "This life is not a dress rehearsal(彩排)," says Miller. "You need to put something in your life that gives you joy."