The Change Agent Blog:

Get Passionate!

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• As I reflected on the recent college visit I made with our youngest son Drew, I began to assess why I enjoy doing college visits so much. It’s the passion I experience! No doubt I loved all four years I was in college (as well as my 2 years in graduate school) so I would naturally be drawn to college students right? But it’s more than that. What I saw reflected in our visit was not just a passionate student tour guide (I mean those are the only kinds of students the college would hire right?), it was the passion for learning and digging deeper that I saw in the department chair and in the engineering students we interviewed. I saw that passion spark excitement in my son for working and pushing himself harder in his final two years in high school so he could have the same thirst for hard work when he goes to college.

What about you? What gets you excited? What are you passionate about? I find the more I learn and the deeper I dig into a subject area, the more re-energized and passionate I become about how to use that content. For me, hands-on practical training works best for me. I’m in a 2-year program right now that has really changed my life with the knowledge I’m learning and what I’m applying from it. Interestingly enough, next month I’m doing my first webinar for a client so I’ll be curious what I think about that option after I personally experience it from the teaching end.

On the other hand, I also am passionate about doing Internet research when I’m learning about a new area. There is so much to learn at my fingertips! I’ve become an expert in the college selection process as well as how to earn athletic college scholarships. What I’ve learned works and it’s paying off for our family and many others.

More recently, I’ve been researching how to use therapeutic grade essential oils instead of traditional medicine and I’m passionate about what I am learning and using as a result. As an example, I’ve successfully replaced Bryan’s Attention Deficit Disorder and Anti-Depression meds (for the last 6 years) with essential oils – it’s costing much less, and more importantly, Bryan is happier and healthier as a result! I’d be happy to share my research with you.

Here are some additional tips regarding managing your job that fit in nicely with my theme this month on passion, research, and learning. They come from my 93 Tips for Managing Change booklet:

• In order to “let go” of old tasks and processes, you will need to implement strategies to improve the organization’s business process. Eliminate bureaucracy by identifying the unnecessary administrative tasks, approvals, and paperwork and eliminating them.
• Eliminate duplication by finding and eliminating the identical activities that are performed in several places or at different points in the process.
• Simplify your job processes and procedures by suggesting ways that you could reduce the complexity in your department. List ways you could make your paperwork more uniform.

Let me know how I can be of service to you. Have a terrific Fall!