The Millennials Series: Why having a Passion makes you More Approachable as a Millennial Accountant

This article was also published on my LinkedIn.

Passion, it’s what drives your decisions and choices about your life and career. In my opinion, it is imperative that you can share your passion in the workplace. John Garrett from The Green Apple Podcast has made it his mission to chat with professionals everywhere about their passions impacts their career – and I’m excited to announce that I will be featuring on his podcast over the coming month, so keep your eyes peeled!

Everyone’s passion is different, with each individual having different motivations for why they are passionate about something. Each person learns something different from their passions, and it these skills that they learn which make them a more well-rounded individual. In terms of your communications with others, it makes you more human and makes it easier for people to approach you.

So what are the key questions you need to ask yourself to determine your passion?

What gets you out of bed in the morning?
If you had to do one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
What is something which makes you happy?

In order for you to understand how powerful having a passion is, I thought I’d include some real life examples.

Example 1

My passion is powerlifting, because it is a way of firstly keeping myself fit and healthy, but also provides an amazing adrenaline rush when I hit new personal records! I am so grateful that I have been able to share my passion with my colleagues. They have been extremely supportive, and I have been so lucky that they understand my “hanger*” when I’m in the middle of comp-prep!

Example 2

Natalie, a close friend of mine from the powerlifting community, has an extraordinary talent and passion for sports photography, specifically in the Powerlifting and Strongman circles! Natalie has been able to share her passion with others by being invited to photograph GPC Nationals in Frankston, Victoria, two weeks ago, as well as competitions locally in South Australia, and other events around Australia. It has been wonderful seeing her passion for photography grow over the last year, and I feel privileged to have been photographed by her in previous competitions I have done.

These passions, have made both Natalie and myself more approachable, and have also enabled other professionals from various industries to connect with us on another level as they can see we are human and have interests outside of work – and it often turns out others have similar passions too which makes for great conversation.

If you want any clarification on the above, or some assistance in determining your passion, please let me know in the comments or send me a LinkedIn message.