Trying to Keep the Passion in a "Day Job"

It's Monday and I really struggled with getting out of bed and into the office today.  We had such a wonderful weekend and didn't want it to end.  This morning had all the feelings of my work being just my "day job" again.  If I'm not careful, this is the laundry list of what begins to feel like drudgery when I'm at my "day job":

• reading/answering email
• answering questions (often it seems like the same question over and over again)
• filing papers
• attending meetings
• making phone calls
• setting goals and making plans
• following-up
• analyzing data
• making decisions
• giving advice
• maintaining spreadsheets and preparing reports
• managing and training employees
• giving presentations
• and the list goes on...

The details occasionally become overwhelming from time to time -- especially wearing two professional hats as a Compensation Manager and an entrepreneur with Peace of Mind Drug & Background Screening. It's a challenge to step back and keep the bigger picture in my mind... I really DO love my job and find joy in what I do for a living.

Chris Brogan expressed some great thoughts in a recent blog post.  Chris goes on to define a job as just a measurement of work.  He promptly reminded that one needs to work to find work.

It's you.  And it's your mindset... You're here to work.  You're here to make meaning.  But you're not here to fill a job. That time is past.  ~ Chris Brogan

So, what is my passion...that element of joy that I am able to find in my work when I adjust my mindset enough to find it?  Well, to be honest... in everything I involve myself in, seems to always distill itself down to these two very simple points:

1. Creating order amidst chaos, and
2. Helping people find their way.

Without keeping those points in mind, all the details just become routine tasks and jobs to do each and every day.  However, the feeling is very different when I am counseling a manager on how to talk with their employees to understand their pay or develop themselves professionally.  It's also a very different feeling when you can help people take stock in where they are and try to make their lives better.  There is a bigger, more important purpose behind all this activity.

So, a slight attitude adjustment this morning helped me put the day back in perspective and get a productive start to the week.  Here's hoping for more days of finding the passion and less days of experiencing the dreaded "day job."

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might...  ~Ecclesiastes 9:10