Are you passionate about your work or do you love your job?
While it might be an odd question, after reviewing some of the findings in CMI’s Content Marketing Career & Salary 2024 Outlook, I wonder.
More than half (54%) of content marketers say they are often busy at work. Only 8% say they are not engaged. These numbers differ significantly from those of employees in other industries. A recent Gallup poll (registration required) found that 52% of US workers say they are not engaged in their work.
But does engagement translate into feeling satisfied with one’s work? Nearly a third (31%) of marketers involved in their CMI search say they are actively or very interested in looking for a new role.
54% of content marketers say they are often busy at work. Nearly a third say they are looking for a new role, according to @CMIContent #Research via @Robert_Rose. Click to tweet
This tension reminds me of the difference between being passionate about your work and loving what you do.
Mistaking passion for love leads to burnout
Every day you are bombarded with messages asking you to equate your job with your passion or, if that’s not possible, to direct your passion into a side hustle that can ultimately become your career.
This thought can dissuade you from doing what you love to do.
I have a friend. Let’s call her Beth. She worked here in my hometown of Los Angeles as the director of digital content for one of the largest movie studios in the world. She was not only passionate about creating content, but also working on some of the most iconic entertainment brands. Beth worked 70 to 80 hours a week with people whose normal way of communicating was by yelling. She was expected to work all the time, including holidays. She rarely took even a few hours to herself.
After five years, a divorce, and some serious health problems, Beth was extremely exhausted. She found that her job didn’t interest her as much as she thought she did.
Secondary passions are not always love
An even more insidious thought is convincing yourself that you need to leave a job and replace it with your passion.
Maybe you hate a job you’re passionate about. I know it sounds weird, but I promise it exists. Some people really don’t like their jobs, but they stay because they’re really good at it. The company keeps giving them more money and responsibility to keep doing it.
I know a product marketing manager. Let’s call him Mike. He works for one of the largest software companies in the world. He has been working at the company for 12 years and hates his job. But Mike has proven himself to be skilled at everything he calls his job. He’s at the top of his game. The company clearly appreciates this.
So, Mike felt compelled to direct his efforts toward a secondary passion to balance his life. His passion is food and wine. He created a foodie magazine and blog. For five years he desperately tried to turn his passion for food and wine into a profitable business so he could quit the job he hated.
Both Mike and Beth had passion, but neither had love.
Passion and love for work are different
Passion is a strong emotion that is difficult to control. Indeed the dictionary defines passion, among other things, as “the state or capacity of being acted upon by external agents or forces.” When you’re passionate, you have no control. The word comes from the Latin word “passio” – to suffer or endure.
Passion is a burning desire for something in which intrusive thoughts idealize the nature of the relationship. It usually comes early in the relationship and is intense. But here’s the thing: passion cannot persist. It always ends.
This isn’t to say that passion for your work can’t be healthy, rewarding, or even fun. But if your relationship with your work never evolves into what psychologists call “compassionate love,” you will always confuse the form of what you want to do with the function of what you love to do.
Beth’s passion for creating content for an iconic entertainment brand was unrequited and therefore never turned into love. She discovered that what she truly loved was not just creating content for an iconic brand, but impacting people with the content she created. Point.
He traded his love of the craft for a passion for the subject (or brand). She discovered his compassionate love in a new job that valued her, reduced her screaming in her daily life, and even paid her more money. She became director of brand journalism at a financial services company.
Mike, on the other hand, discovered that he wasn’t in love with – or had a passion for – starting a publishing business. He found love by redesigning his product marketing work and recognizing that it was okay that software wasn’t his passion. He discovered that he could love the company that loved him because it gave him the freedom to experience firsthand his true love for good food and good wine. He was not required to profit from the thing he truly loved. He could just love him for who he was.
Great love inspires new work passions
One of the most encouraging findings in CMI career research has been the importance of loving what you do. The most frequent response to “what content marketers want” from their work was “to do meaningful work.” Relationships with colleagues and recognition for my work are followed closely. Professional development opportunities were sixth on the list.
What do you want? You want meaningful, long-term work where you can interact with people you like and be recognized for your contributions. You want love.
Where to find that love is the biggest question.
A quote, usually attributed to Lord Byron, says: “Love without passion is sad. Passion without love is horrible.” I totally agree. When you haven’t found love in your work, your passion seems insignificant. Busy working day? Well, that just becomes Tuesday. That fire burns you.
But when you truly love what you do, have self-knowledge, and can balance those moments of passion, however brief, you can obsess and lose yourself in the intensity of the activity. That fire fuels you.
Choose your fire carefully.
It’s your story. Say it well.
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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
