Seven Ways to Revive Your Passion
. . . when you're so overwhelmed and exhausted
by Thomas W. McKee
Maybe you are not burned out, but you are feeling a little stale. The thought of being enthusiastic is just a little too much right now. When volunteer managers are down, they transfer those feelings to people they are trying to recruit and motivate. What do you do?
Revisit Your Story: The quickest, easiest way to get reconnected to your passion is to tell someone else why you started working at your organization, or what originally inspired you about the mission. What was it that awakened your passion in the first place? In the retelling of your story, you often tap into a passion that is lying dormant within you.
Take a Hike: The mini-vacation break is the 15-minute walk. Get up from your desk and take a quick walk outside. It is amazing what this does to restore passion. Do this daily.
Take a Couple of Hours for Yourself: Take some time to either get off by yourself or get together with some friends. Know what restores your passion the best. I have several different activities that help me the most: golf with my sons, dinner with my wife, an entertaining movie, or a great book.
Take a Mini-Vacation: Several years ago my wife, Susie, and I were visiting some friends of ours in Germany. They were retired and had taken a two-year position as dorm parents in a missionary school in the Black Forest. They had each Thursday off, so they would take a mini-trip, often leaving early in the morning and coming back late that night. Once a month, they would take the whole weekend off and travel to parts of Europe that they could visit in a couple of days. As I heard about all the places that they had seen in just one year, I thought, "Why don't we do that?" My first reaction was that they had so many places to go by train or car where they were living and they knew that they would only be there one year. And then I thought, "So what?" There are so many places within a three hour drive from where I live that I could take a couple of days to get away. It is amazing how those trips have helped me to revive my passion when I am getting burned out.
Mindstorm: Once a quarter I do some mindstorming. Mindstorming is when I let the right side of my brain brainstorm with the left side of my brain. The logical and creative sides of my brain begin to talk to each other as I take a piece of paper and write a question at the top of the page such as, "What are 20 ways that I can approach this problem?" Or "What are 20 creative things I can do to . . . ?" I take 30 minutes to answer the question. I personally find these exercises motivating as I usually come up with two or three really creative new ideas.
Conferences: Attending a motivating and energizing professional convention and conference is a wonderful way to meet with your colleagues and share war stories. It is a time to get away, but also to learn what is happening in your industry.
Sabbaticals: Many organizations are giving their professional staff a three-month study sabbatical. This is a time to do the study and reflection that we never have time for.
Reviving passion is so personal. Some of the above activities may not revive your passion at all. It might only add to your stress. But one thread is woven through all of these suggestions—take time for yourself. I love the old saying, "If you don't come apart (time for yourself) you'll come apart." This is the time for a "passion jump-start". To jump-start your passion, take a break. How long has it been since you have had a break? I think of seven kinds of breaks to revive my passion. And I often neglect these breaks because I'm too busy. But when I'm too busy to take one of these breaks, then I lose my passion and I am tempted to quit—or do something stupid. But as you can see, some of these breaks take only a few minutes.
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© 2008 Volunteer Power