You have perhaps experienced what many term the “Monday Blues”.
My social media feed is often swamped with people making reference to this term, at the start of each workweek.
Author of the book “Leading with Happiness”, Alexander Kjerulf, who is also an international speaker on happiness at work, describes this as a set of negative emotions that many people get at the beginning of the week if they're not happy at work.
He suggests that it contains elements of depression, tiredness, hopelessness, but most significantly the feeling that work is unpleasant, but unavoidable.
Perhaps, this is what the saying “…choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life” actually hopes to explain. The saying itself has been attributed to various historical figures including Confucius, Marc Antony, and Mark Twain.
I think it doesn’t really matter who coined this adage. What is arguably more pertinent is its deeper significance for all of us.
My remit as a consultant, leadership coach and management trainer regularly includes the instruction from the owner of a business, or the chief executive of a company, to make their staff connect with their jobs, more effectively.
How do you get connected with your work?
Through my work, I have noticed that if you are passionate about what you are doing, then you will wake up in the morning looking forward to your day, even if it is a Monday. And your nine to five job, does not feel like tedious work.
It does follow that if you love what you do, you will do it better, and with greater passion.
Let me give you an example of why you need to discover your true passion.
This week, I was really privileged to spend some time with a culinary hero of mine, the world renowned celebrity chef, David Rocco.
A Canadian of Italian heritage, he is also a best-selling author, and host of several internationally syndicated television series, including the now legendary “David Rocco’s Dolce Vita”.
His television shows air in over 150 countries worldwide, including on the Food Network, BBC Food, Discovery Travel, Nat Geo Adventure Channel, and Fox Life.
I was curious to find out what he attributes his success to, considering he isn’t a classically trained chef.
For someone with such a huge following worldwide, I found him very approachable, warm, and genuinely interested in people. After I got over my fan-boy moment, I mustered up enough dignity to hold a meaningful conversation with him.
He started by explaining to me that he didn’t just like food. He absolutely loved it. And, in essence this was the reason for all his success as a chef, television personality, author, wine maker, and restaurateur.
David Rocco’s belief is that because of his deep love for food, he is able to connect with ingredients, and somehow, they magically talk to him.
As eccentric as this sounded, I completely understood him.
To give you some context, I met him because I was fortunate to be invited as a guest for an upcoming television show that he is in.
As part of this production, he was tasked to recreate an authentic but complex Malaysian dish that he had never attempted to cook, before.
He had no prior knowledge of the ingredients, and was given very little time to understand the nuances of the dish.
I had the pleasure of tasting the final product. To my amazement, he nailed it completely. Not only did he recreate a genuine local delicacy, he was able to deftly infuse it with his own touch.
There is no doubt that this would not have been possible, without a passionate love of food.
In preparing the dish, I noticed his connection with the local sous chefs, he was given. In a really short time, he was able to connect, and have meaningful relationships, with them. This increased their engagement, and consequently they worked really well with him. This showed in the dish.
When showcasing the plate of food, he explained his unique take on this famous dish. In describing how he came to present his version to us, David Rocco exhibited a remarkable sense of understanding that what we were eating was a comfort food in Malaysia. And, he was able to draw parallels from his travels, and even paid homage to our multi-cultural heritage.
Most of all, I saw self-mastery. He was honestly satisfied that he was able present a worthy rendition of well-liked Malaysian favorite, to his audience.
People who love their jobs tend to have three things in common.
They make an impact by being able to forge proper connections with their work, and the people they work with; they understand what is expected of them, and diligently deliver results; and they have an unfeigned sense of pride in their accomplishments.
David Rocco exhibits all these traits. There is no doubt in my mind that these are the main reasons why he’s seen such huge success in his professional life.
Do you love what you do, like David Rocco?
Shankar R. Santhiram is managing consultant and executive leadership coach at EQTD Consulting. He is also the author of the national bestseller “So, You Want To Get Promoted?”