“Hey man, great to see you” I reached out my hand to shake his and then motioned for my guest to follow me over to my desk where I was conducting short meetings with fellow Marine Aviators.  The purpose of these meetings are to help manage the career progression of each Marine Aviator and for me to note down their desires for follow on orders.  I asked my guest to have a seat next me – we sat leaning forward, hands clasped in front of us and I asked – “so, how are you?  How are things going?”  My guest lowered his voice and nearly whispered, “I’m not sure what to do man, but I can’t keep doing this.”  I asked him to clarify his frustration and he went on to say, “I just don’t have a passion for this anymore, I’m tired and want to do something different.”

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do” – Steve Jobs

Tim Davies wrote a terrific post titled “The Passionless Pilot” in which he gives a young flight student apt advice as he deals with losing his “passion” for learning how to fly fighters.  Mr. Davies also does a great job at explaining how, generationally, millennials are told to follow their passion above all else; which is often the cause of frustration and disappointment in with their work.  Our parents generation, the Baby Boomer generation, and to a much greater extent, the WWII generation, by and large do not use the word passion to describe their work.  These generations were 1 – informed by the Great Depression and 2 – prided themselves in working for one company for the duration of their careers, even if they were not “passionate” about it.  Accordingly, this has caused some to question the validity of passion in your work and to look down upon those who use the word or place passion as a qualifier in their work.

“There is no greater thing you can do with your life and your work than to follow your passions – in a way that serves the world and you.” – Sir Richard Branson

As I continued to listen to my guest, I did sense a lack of passion, but more importantly, I sensed a change in priorities.  My friend has had a very successful career as a Marine Fighter Pilot thus far, and has worked very hard to get where he is, and he definitely is not a whiner.  He was beginning to realize he was not valuing the work he was doing in the squadron as highly as he once was.  The multiple deployments, long hours at work, bureaucratic frustrations, and the general lack of leadership at all levels had left him realizing that perhaps he needed to change his priorities.

The standard company line in response to my friend’s thoughts would be for him to “suck it up, this is what you signed up to do, so you need to do it.”  But is this true?  I would submit it is not, and here’s why.

• We are not slaves: When we sign up for an obligation, no matter what it is, we need to fulfill the obligation.  Once the obligation has been met, we are free to move on.  We are not slaves.
• Our priorities change: When we find our current work is no longer lining up with the reality of our present life, it is wise to move on.  Everything from global events, to children growing up can and should cause our priorities to change.
• We can and should enjoy our work: We are created to work.  Our work is rarely easy, but at the end of the day we should feel a satisfaction in completing the challenge.  If the satisfaction is not there, and instead, there is a sense of dread – it is time to move on.

“Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress, working hard for something we believe in is called passion.” – Simon Sinek

In the end, I was able to share with my guest that he should not be ashamed of his lack of passion, and it is certainly not something he should hide.  As long as our passions don’t cause us to compromise our ethics or morals, our passion, or lack thereof, can be the impetus we need to do good work and serve the world, our neighborhood, and our families.  The hard part of acknowledging what you are passionate about is fearing the judgement of those you work with – I sometimes struggle with this.  Do you?