RULE 11: Be Passionate But Don't Kill Yourself

I hope you’re very passionate about your job. Whether your job satisfaction comes from the people you work with, the sense of achievement, a deep belief in what you’re doing, the recognition you get, the money you earn, or anything else—I hope you get enough out of the job to feel very passionate about doing it.

But don’t fall into the trap of thinking that if you’re passionate you have to work long hours and jump through countless hoops to prove it. Being passionate isn’t the same thing as staying late at the office. If you have a positive sense of belief in your work and an enthusiasm for it, that will shine through. Your boss will recognize it and, I trust, appreciate it, regardless of the hours you put in.

It isn’t necessary to work yourself into the ground to be passionate about your work. In fact, it’s hard to sustain your love of a job that is slowly draining all your energy. It’s what you achieve that counts, not how long it takes you to achieve it. You might argue that if you’re really passionate you should be able to achieve the same as other people in a fraction of the time. OK, that may not mean you can go home by mid-afternoon, but it does mean that your passion will keep your output high even if you knock off at 5:30 like everyone else.

Being passionate about your work, which is generally regarded as being a Good Thing, is about caring whether you do a good job. It’s not about how you work; it’s about how you feel. So not only do you not have to work long hours to prove your passion, but it wouldn’t prove it anyway because it’s quite possible to work 16 hours a day and still not care about what you do. It would be a pretty miserable life, granted, but I’ve known people do it.

So cultivate a positive enthusiasm about your work. If you don’t feel passionate about it, look for a new way to view it that makes you care, or work out what would generate that kind of passion in you, and then create it in your work. Now, I’m not saying it’s easy. For some people it’s a lifelong search. But I’ll promise you one thing—if you’re not even looking, you’ll never find it.

IT’S NOT ABOUT HOW YOU WORK; IT’S ABOUT HOW YOU FEEL.