What does passion mean as a core value?
Passion as a core value means caring intensely about a few things, whether people, causes, crafts or ideas, and bringing real energy and feeling to them.
Lukewarm is hard for you. You want to care about something so much it keeps you up at night, and work, hobbies or relationships that leave you unmoved feel like drifting. Passion might be for a person, a cause, a craft, a sport or an idea, and when it’s there you bring an energy that’s contagious. When it’s missing, you feel it immediately, like colour draining out of a room. You judge a life by its intensity as much as by its comfort.
What does passion look like in practice?
- You talk about the thing you love with a light in your eyes, and sometimes for too long.
- You lose track of time when you’re absorbed in a project you care about.
- You argue hard for ideas you believe in, even in a meeting where agreement would be easier.
- You leave jobs, courses or relationships that have gone flat, even when they look fine on paper.
- You look for partners, friends and colleagues who care deeply about something too.
When is passion overplayed?
Intensity can overwhelm people. Colleagues may feel steamrollered by your convictions, partners exhausted by the highs and lows, and you may abandon worthwhile things the moment the spark dims. Passion can also cloud judgement: you commit before checking the numbers, or take disagreement personally. The healthier version lets passion choose the direction and relies on discipline for the flat stretches. A day’s pause before committing to the next thing that sets you alight can help.
Often confused with
Passion vs Enthusiasm
Enthusiasm is lively, often short-lived eagerness about many things. Passion runs deeper and narrower, holding on to a few things you care about intensely.
Passion vs Drive
Drive is the push to achieve. Passion is the feeling underneath, and it can exist for things that will never bring any achievement at all.
Passion vs Dedication
Dedication is steady devotion over time, whatever you feel on the day. Passion is the intensity itself, which can rise and fall.
Questions to sit with
- What did you last care about so much that you lost track of time, and how much of your week goes on it now?
- Where has your passion made you hard to work or live with?
- What would you keep doing if it never paid, impressed anyone or led anywhere?
More values in Love
Deep feeling and close relationships.
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.
Find your own
Is Passion one of your core values?
Choose from 155 values, narrow them down to the few that matter most, and get a personal report to keep. Free, and it takes about 15 minutes.
Find your core values