tap into passion

I was reading an article by Warren Berger recently called “Find Your Passion With These 8 Thought-Provoking Questions.”

One of these questions is finding your sentence. How would you describe what you love to do and to encapsulate this in a sentence?

I came up with my sentence. 

I was surprised with what I came up with. 

“I love connecting with people (relationship management), connecting people with information (customer service) and mobilizing people (team building).”

Let me explain each element of my sentence.

1.       Connecting with people. I look for all kinds of touch points to connect with people. For example, I’ll forward an article that may be of interest to them; wish people a “Happy Birthday” and congratulate them on a workplace milestone. When someone sends me an e-mail, this is an opportunity to engage and I return all my e-mails quickly. I love having meaningful face-to-face conversations with people. I like to talk more than surface stuff – what are your hopes and dreams, what are your passions? I like to get to know people.

2.       Connecting people with information. I love attending arts and culture events like Doors Open Toronto. So not only do I like attending, but I like to tell people about these events, so that they may consider attending too! For example, I’ve sent updates on LinkedIn to remind people in my network about this event.

I loved volunteering at Neighbourhood Link. I volunteered in their Employment Resource & Information Centre. I helped job seekers with their online job searches like filling out an online application and showing them how to use the fax machine.  

3.       Mobilizing people. I love fundraising for the Terry Fox Foundation. I’m really proud that my sponsors and I raised $1,005 for the Foundation in 2016! What I think about is that one donation alone (like $1) doesn’t sound very significant, but what if you can mobilize the people in your network, so that 1000 people each donates $1…that’s a thousand dollars raised!  There’s power in the collective when you can mobilize people!

I loved being the Employee Campaign Chair for Combined Insurance’s United Way Campaigns.  I got the chance to collaborate with colleagues from different departments to plan and execute our campaigns. All of us believed in the United Way, and so all I needed to do was to mobilize our efforts.  

As part of my love for connecting with people, I love to discover what their passions are.

I learned early on from a friend of mine that he loves backgammon. When I was 18, I received a backgammon set for a birthday present. I never opened that set until recently, because it was too daunting for me to learn backgammon! 

I love to play cribbage. I don’t know too many people in my network who play cribbage, but I like to play.

I suggested to my friend that if he teaches me how to play backgammon, that I would teach him how to play cribbage.

I now know how to play backgammon and I have a cribbage partner.

If we take the time to learn what another person’s passions are, we open up the possibility for ourselves to learn something new, to share what we know and deepen our connections with others.

What is a passion of yours that you would like to share with the world?

Originally Published on LinkedIn:  October 8, 2016

Image Credit:  Pixabay.com (Michelangelo exemplifies passion in being so prolific)