By Lloyd Reeb
Passion is the fuel that drives us, an essential ingredient to a second half of meaning and impact.
In this blog series, we’ve been exploring what to do when you can’t seem to find a compelling passion.
It’s a common problem. Some of us may have turned our ‘dreamer’ off decades ago, and need to find the freedom to dream again. For others, our passion is hidden in plain view – we simply need those around us to help us see it. In my case I had been so focused on developing real estate that I arrived at the season of “halftime” with little exposure to the needs and opportunities out there.
There is one more common cause for not finding your passion … it’s when your deepest passion is actually around what you can bring to an issue or a cause rather than a specific cause itself.
I’m MORE passionate about what I BRING to a cause than to any specific cause.
Case Study: Gloria was the president of a financial institution and had loved turning several major departments around on her assent up, but found herself in the season of “halftime”. Over dinner, her friends and I listened as she lamented having no strong passion for a particular cause. I watched the joy and enthusiasm in her face when she talked about the departments she had turned around at the bank. By the time dessert arrived, it was clear that her real passion was taking underperforming organizations and turning them into best-of-class. Today her passion is bringing her ‘turn-around expertise’ to four or five organizations and causes she believes in … even though she is not overly passionate about any one of those causes. We call this a horizontal portfolio – bringing something special across multiple organizations or causes.
Action: Consider building a ‘horizontal portfolio’ of serving roles that allow you to bring what you are best at to multiple causes.
If you see yourself in this case study contact us to talk with one of our Certified Halftime Coaches for a FREE one hour session to leverage their expertise in helping you discover your passion.
