Are you a raving fan of your own life?

Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter

Steve Irwin projected passion and enthusiasm for his life’s mission at all times.

Have you ever met someone who completely and utterly loves what they do?  I’m talking about the kind of person who can’t wait to get out of bed in the morning and go to work because they believe with every fiber of their being they were created to do exactly what they do every single day. I’m thinking someone like The Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin. Not that I ever met him in person, but I imagine if I had sat next to him on a plane, all he would have talked about was animals and family, and it might have even been hard to know which was which.  I could have even imagined him pulling a small animal out of his pocket on that flight—Lord help if it had been a snake. 

Anyway, back to the topic at hand…now that you have your example in mind of someone who is a raving fan of their own life I have a question for you:

How did you feel when you first met that person?

I’ve typically seen two reactions when we meet someone like that:

Reaction 1:  The tell-me-more reaction. 

Did you find yourself completely and utterly attracted to their passion?  Did you catch yourself wanting to hear more so you could find out where they found that well of happy juice?  Did you find yourself wishing you worked with them thinking they’d be the kind of person who would go above and beyond?

Reaction 2:  The you-can’t-be-for-real reaction.

Did you find yourself skeptical of the person’s motives asking yourself if this person is being sincere?  As you listened, did you wonder what they were trying to sell you?  Did you even find yourself a bit repulsed by their ooey-gooey, sappy joy?  Were you looking for the emergency exit so you could get out of the conversation? 

In February, my bestie, Michelle, and I were flying to Napa for vacation before we both took on new and exciting adventures in our careers.  We were on a packed plane, and it happened to be my birthday, so Michelle graciously took the middle seat as a gift to me (a quite generous gift given her Amazonian stature), I had the window seat, and we were joined on our row by a very inspiring gentleman who sat in the aisle seat.  He shared with us that he worked for Kaiser Permanente and their services had saved his life. Talk about someone who completely and utterly loved his job! He told us he never wanted to work anywhere else and shared with us many details of how their plans worked. He happened to be in sales but was not going on a business trip, instead he was heading to California on a golf vacation. He said all of this without ever knowing that Michelle is a Chief People Officer with great influence over benefits programs.  He also had no idea that we both have many friends who are Chief Human Resource Officers. He was just speaking from the heart about something he loved because he wanted to help other people. That is the beauty of being a raving fan. When you love what you do it shows up in every aspect of your life…even when you are on a flight headed to vacation talking to two complete and utter strangers. 

Michelle and Rebecca

About to take off on our adventures to California.

There are clearly more ways to respond to a raving fan than the two extreme reactions I described above, but as the head of culture and engagement for the Americas for my company, I spent 15 years studying the impact on organizational outcomes of how people feel about their jobs, and the math is undeniable:  when employees love their jobs, it drives positive financial outcomes.  Harvard Business Review recently published a study on this for anyone who wants to explore this further.

So, as I reflect on all of this, what I’ve learned over the years is that whether your reaction to meeting a raving fan is #1 or #2 above is more about where you are in your personal journey than the energy the raving fan projects. I also have learned through my own coaching journey that we can make intentional adjustments to our own behaviors that influence how we experience our current roles. We don’t always have to leave our current jobs to be happy. My friend, Darcy Eikenberg, just wrote a powerful book, called Red Cape Rescue, for anyone who wants to learn more about this. That said, sometimes our dreams may take us in a completely different direction, and when that happens, we may need to look outside our current organization. If that is what you need to do to become a raving fan of your own life, then maybe it’s time to explore that path. And sometimes we need to spend some time exploring which path to take. Either way, the fact is:

We should not settle for anything less than being raving fans of our own lives.  

What intentional shifts do you want to start making now to lay the foundation for your inspired future? As an executive coach my greatest joy comes from helping professionals like you step into your inspired future. Please reach out if you would like to talk about how we can partner to start your journey today.