Core value · Joy family
Enthusiasm
Throwing yourself in with energy
Also covers Zeal and Zest
What does enthusiasm mean as a core value?
Enthusiasm as a core value means throwing yourself wholeheartedly into whatever catches your interest, and bringing an energy to it that tends to lift the people around you.
Half-hearted doesn’t come naturally to you. When something catches your interest you’re in with both feet, and you’re happy to be the keenest person in the room. That zest is catching: it’s often the thing that gets a stalled project or a flat family weekend moving again. With enthusiasm as a core value, finding energy is rarely the challenge. Being asked to keep it switched off is harder. Polite detachment can tire you more than hard work does.
What does enthusiasm look like in practice?
- You volunteer for the new project before you’ve read the full brief.
- You answer a new idea with “yes, and” before you get to the reasons it might not work.
- You get visibly animated talking about something you’re into, and people remark on it.
- You bring the playlist, the snacks or the plan that gets a group going.
- You struggle to fake interest in something that bores you.
When is enthusiasm overplayed?
Zeal can outrun judgement. You sign up for more than you can finish, get excited by the start of things and drift before the dull middle, or steamroll quieter people whose doubts deserve a hearing. Others may learn to discount your excitement because it greets every idea equally. The mature form saves full throttle for what matters and can hold an idea loosely while the facts come in. A 48-hour rule might help: when something new excites you, give it two days before you commit.
Often confused with
Enthusiasm vs Passion
Passion is a deep, lasting love for particular things. Enthusiasm is the energy you bring to whatever is in front of you, and it can attach to something new every week.
Enthusiasm vs Optimism
Optimism expects things to turn out well. Enthusiasm is appetite for the doing itself, whatever the forecast.
Enthusiasm vs Drive
Drive is a steady push towards a goal, even when the work is dull. Enthusiasm is wholehearted energy, and it tends to fade when the excitement does.
Questions to sit with
- Which of your current commitments did you take on in a burst of excitement, and would you choose it again today?
- Who around you goes quiet when you get enthusiastic, and what might they be holding back?
- What would you lose if you spent a year doing work you felt lukewarm about?
More values in Joy
Delight, lightness and enthusiasm for life.
About the author
Matt Rutherford is a Career and Leadership Coach. The Values Finder is the same exercise he uses with his coaching clients. He also writes Stuff that MattRs, a weekly newsletter with practical ideas to help you think clearer and work better.
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