We’re all more than work and work. To many, like myself, pursuing a passion outside your chosen or happened-upon job would be an obvious choice. But if perhaps you’re that sort of workaholic who’s all about work, or if you’re stuck in that day-to-day grind and looking for something to re-ignite that fire inside yourself, then this article will help you see some of the benefits of pursuing some passion outside your job.
Different Activities, Different Skills
One benefit of doing something besides your work is developing different skills. Said skills might benefit your job at the time and/or your profile. A way to achieve this, even if you are busy, is to schedule some time in your daily routine for other interests outside your profession.
An example: Say you’re a store manager, and you deal with supply chains, team organization, and sales performance. You have a whole array of passions to pursue, but in this case, you dedicate a small amount of time daily to reading. Perhaps it’s something you used to do a lot more of while younger but lost along the way. By reincorporating it into your schedule, you give yourself the time and space to pursue and develop it.
And what exactly might you get out of reading? Anything from instructional books to biographies to fantasy can teach you something, from core values to skills to a different outlook on issues in your current job. Freelance Latin America hosts a book club where our team members can engage and connect on such activity; check it out here.
Just like that one, we have other clubs for various personal interests of our freelancers, such as a Music Club, Fitness Club, and Chess Club. You can find out more about that on our about us page. You can also check out our team’s talents on our YouTube channel‘s Freelancer Talent Showcases!
Self-worth and Renewal
When we’re young, we’re told that pursuing a profession tied to your passion is one of the best things you can do. While this isn’t entirely false, it’s not always a good idea. Staking your sense of achievement and purpose on a single thing can be risky.
Not only will the downs sink you even lower when things don’t go your way, as it can happen to anyone, but your chances of burning out are also greater. Also, the separation between work and leisure can be difficult to achieve.
I can speak of this from personal experience; I love to draw and paint, but I never pursued a job professionally since I’m very spontaneous with my creativity, and working with deadlines and directions ends up stifling it.
By having it separate from my work life, I enjoy complete creative freedom and can also enjoy it as a hobby. My accomplishments there aren’t gauged by how much money I make or any recognition I receive but simply by my enjoyment of art and how I improve over time.
Since my personal passions and actual work are entirely different in scope, I also have a distinct separation between what I do to earn money and what I do to enjoy or relax. This, in turn, grants me an easier time to recharge my batteries. This article from the Journal of Vocational Behavior seems to agree. I’m linking it here if you want to read more about it.
Positive All-around
Pursuing a passion outside work can have a whole spectrum of positive effects on your life. You can even influence or better your community and the lives of other people (or beings) by volunteering, expanding or fortifying your social circles, and even building up transferable skills.
Some activities can also better your mental and/or physical well-being. If you are into fitness, then there is no question about this, but meditation, yoga, or even just a brisk walk in a park can give you precisely the ‘shore-leave’ time you’re looking for while also enriching aspects of your life that aren’t strictly connected to the job, but will make you a happier person, and a happier person will always produce better results at work than an unhappy person—an axiom of life.
While researching this topic I came across this list and its eighth point had me dumbfounded at first. As I read the words: “8- (Having a passion outside work) Makes you more interesting,” I chuckled. Of course, it isn’t a lie, but I thought it wasn’t worth mentioning, like saying breathing or drinking water is good for you.
But as it turns out, there’s an interesting angle to it. Some employers do pay attention to the human side of a CV. The hobbies, the past experiences, the miscellaneous section. They might make you stand out from a pile of resumes about job experiences and academic backgrounds.
It even happened to me once, when I was being considered for a writing job, that what got the employers interested in me, besides anyone else, was that I listed I enjoyed video as a time, and the subject matter for the writing job in question happened to be a particular videogame, something I was completely unaware of. I wouldn’t have gotten that opportunity without listing that often considered “superfluous” information in my CV.
In conclusion, life is more than work; work benefits from having a life outside of it. Be happier, healthier, and, of course, more interesting—and this, in turn, will make you a far better professional, distinct from a mindless drone just going through the motions of their day-to-day grind.
See more articles by Haward Méndez.
