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5 Tips to Do What You Love and Love What You Do

February 11, 2022

Written by Debbie Aaron

Senior HR and Leadership Development Consultant

Vertical Bridge HR

February – an ideal time to revisit your New Year’s Resolutions and focus on finding out what you love and how you can do more of it. If you feel like you are languishing or need a boost then maybe identifying what you love to do may help to reenergize you, your life and your work.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could spend more of our working lives doing more of what we love and still contribute? Well, the good news is that you can.

When people do what they love at work then not only are they happier outside of work, but they are more productive and connected to their work. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic found that doctors who spend just 20% of their time doing what they love have a lower risk of burnout.

Passion led us here is written on a sidewalk
Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash

5 helpful tips on how to learn more about yourself in order to identify what you love and what you loathe to do.

  1. Tools like DISC and Driving Forces can be great starting points that provide insight as you start to identify your preferred behaviours and understand what drives you to succeed. However you are a unique person, so these tools alone are not enough.
  2. Coaching enables you to delve more deeply, to better understand yourself and your situation, to identify options and plan for action.
  3. Have conversations with your team members to share what you love to do. As a team, you can identify how your combined passions and talents can contribute to work that is enjoyable and satisfying.
  4. To help you to identify what you love to do, take time to self-reflect and identify when you have been in your flow – when you’ve been working for an hour and the time has passed so quickly that it didn’t feel like work at all.
  5. Share your thoughts with your manager and ask what opportunities there are to do more of what you love in your day-to-day work. 

As a leader, ask your staff what activities they loved and what they loathed when reflecting on a week.

Remember, there may be things that you love to do but they don’t necessarily contribute or add value at work. That’s great, these can be your hobbies and doing more of what you love in your own time will contribute to your sense of wellbeing.

February is the month of love – be intentional about filling this month with activities that you love. Please reach out and ask how we can help you and/or your team incorporate more love into your work.

Debbie Aarons

Debbie is a creative and energetic human resources and organizational development professional with a Masters in Human Resource Management and over twenty years’ experience gained in the UK and Canada. Debbie is committed to establishing leadership for organizations to maximize their talent and potential.

Debbie has worked with organizations in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. Taking a collaborative approach to consulting, she has partnered with leaders to design and implement innovative programs and practices that bring out the best in their employees. Debbie is an engaging and effective facilitator and communicator and a certified emotional intelligence coach.

Whether designing performance management systems or facilitating employee development programs, developing leadership development workshops or implementing succession planning practices, Debbie demonstrates an unique ability to respond to the specific needs of each organization and situation to enhance the employee experience and help create great places to work.

Prior to moving to Vancouver in 2000, Debbie worked in London, UK. She now lives in Steveston, BC with her husband and two children. Debbie is passionate about contributing to the local community through volunteer work and community building activities. She has served as director and president of not-for-profit societies and seeks opportunities to bridge her deep human resource expertise with her desire to make a difference in the communities in which we live and work.

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