If you're old enough to remember the 70s, you might. This wildly popular image that's a relic of another time shows a cat barely holding onto a tree branch with the slogan mentioned earlier on it.
This poster tapped into an emotion that most people felt about their job then. It still holds true today: work is tedious to the nth degree for many individuals. To them, the only respite from the endless boredom is blowing off a little steam on weekends.
Operating an enterprise for which you have zero passion is like trying to drive thousands of miles on a single drop of gas—you won’t get very far. However, not knowing your passion isn’t just a problem for young people just starting a career. It’s also an issue for those who’ve been employed for years but no longer enjoy what they do.
It’s become the norm for people in our society to dread work with every fiber of their being. Everywhere you go, you see individuals walking around like zombies because their jobs sap them of their energy.
According to Gallup, 85% of all employees are dissatisfied with their jobs. The need for healthcare and a steady income is why so many people feel trapped.
However, not everyone falls into this category. For those passionate about what they do, work is a labor of love.
Chris Gardener, the homeless man who became a multi-millionaire stockbroker (as featured in the movie, "The Pursuit of Happyness,"), said the secret is to "find something you love to do so much you can't wait for the sun to rise to do it all over again."
Table of Contents
Toggle1. Lack of Passion Affects Every Area of Your Life
Not being passionate about what you do has consequences that affect every area of your life.
There's no way you'll be happy when you utterly detest what you spend most of your time doing. By toiling away for hours a day on work you despise, family members aren’t going to enjoy your company when you come home after a long day at work because you’ll be miserable.
However, if you have passion for how you make money, you’ll be bursting with energy and enthusiasm. Therefore, you'll be a joy to be around.
2. Why It’s Not Good to Chase the Dreams of Others
All-too-many people these days work at a job merely because that's what their parents did or because they chose a career when they were young and didn't know what they really wanted.
This is a recipe for lifelong misery.
Instead of pursuing an idea that was successful for someone else, try doing something you're genuinely passionate about. That's because when chasing other people's dreams, you'll give up when the desired results don't materialize.
That’s because the vision isn’t your own. Therefore, you’re not emotionally invested in it.
Do you know the best way to be wildly successful at something?
Finding that which makes you eager to get out of bed in the morning—not doing something because someone else told you to do it years ago.
3. Why You Need Passion
Creates Unbeatable Drive
These days, there’s nothing hotter than being an entrepreneur. That’s because when you’re your own boss, your earning potential is unlimited.
However, many budding business owners don’t have a passion for their businesses—they’re just in love with the idea of making money. This means they won't have the energy to sustain their enterprises long-term.
Passion can propel you towards a goal even when it appears impossible. However, it's only unattainable for those lacking this essential quality.
With passion, you’ll persist even during the most challenging times. You’ll pursue success in the face of adversity long after everyone else has thrown in the towel. It's the one thing that’ll keep you going when giving up would be easier.
Passion drives you to work hard for your business no matter what. It's the crucial difference between a successful entrepreneur and one whose only ambition is to squeak by doing the bare minimum.
Clients Will Flock to You In Droves
When you have passion for what you do, clients will see that you’re out for their best interests instead of only looking at them as a way to make a dime. Your entire focus will be on creating long-term success for them, which makes you more trustworthy in their eyes.
Building a business that arouses passion in you means your enthusiasm for what you do will be so contagious clients will be flocking to you in droves. They'll see that you not only have the expertise to produce results but are invested in their success.
With passion, you’ll work hard to understand clients’ pain points. That way, you’ll be able to craft unique solutions for them. This is in contrast to the cookie-cutter responses they get from businesses that don’t have an emotional investment in what they do.
This helps to boldly differentiate yourself from competitors.
Keeps Things Interesting
Without passion, you won’t survive as a business owner because the work you do will quickly become tedious. Over time, this will take a toll on you emotionally, mentally, and physically.
If this happens, you’ll struggle to keep up with the demands of your business, and clients will start to drop like flies. All because you chose to do something you perceived as safe instead of something you're passionate about.
4. How to Uncover Your Passion
The most successful business people on the planet all share a singular trait: passion. They love what they do with every fiber of their being.
When painters create a work of art, they aren’t even aware of time passing.
Doing work you love should feel the same. Ask yourself, do you enjoy what you do so much that you don’t know where the hours went?
If the answer is “yes,” you’ve found your passion.
If the answer is "no," consider reevaluating your life. Few things are more valuable than time. Why waste so much of it on something you don't care about?
To help uncover your passion, list all the tasks you hate to do. Then, list all the things that fill you with joy. Once you've done this exercise, you'll know what to do more of and what to eliminate from your life.
5. Harness Your Passion with a CFO Advisory Service
Are you an accountant or other financial professional who's sick and tired of what they do day in and day out? '
If so, consider adding a CFO advisory service to what you currently offer.
I don't know about you, but I believe helping businesses fulfill all the glorious dreams their owners had when first starting out is so much more rewarding than merely doing compliance work.
Finding your passion is the antidote for going home everyday bone tired because you spend your days doing work you find tedious. At The Expert CFO, we can help you get out of the rut of only doing boring accounting tasks such as tax preparation and generating reports based on past events.
With our proven-to-work system, you’ll build a seven-figure CFO advisory service that gets results.
Contact us today to start your CFO advisory firm!
