If you ask most people what they want out of their career, they will say satisfaction. And yes, career satisfaction is a good thing. But let’s take it a step further. The people that seem to be the happiest in their careers are the ones that not only get satisfaction out of their work, but are able to bring their passions into their work also. Passion in your career? Yes!

I firmly believe that the road to success is actually paved with passion. There is magic in passion. If you believe in your work (for whatever reason, it’s important to you), you will take more risks, bounce back more easily from set backs and rejections, and work longer and harder on your projects.

So how do you tap into the passion in your career? Here are some tips.

• Remind yourself of why you went into this line of work in the first place. Perhaps you turned a beloved hobby into a career, but now have become mired down in the day-to-day details and have lost sight of the meaning behind your work. Try to take a step back from the daily grind and tap into the passion that drove you to choose this line of work. Assuming your work was a choice (and that you were initially happy with that choice), spend some time thinking about WHY you chose the work and the excitement you experienced in knowing that you get to do this work for a living.
• See your work from the eyes of a very happy, satisfied, evangelical client or customer. Think about your favorite client or customer. The one that pays on time, treats you and the work you do with respect, and makes working with him or her fun. Now see the work that you do from his or her perspective. Looks a lot more interesting from that angle, doesn’t it?
• See your work from the eyes of a grateful client or customer whose life was somehow changed in dramatic ways based on the work that you do. Again, this is all about finding the passion in your work. What better way to do that than to view your work from the eyes of someone whose life was affected in measurable and important ways by the services you performed or products that you or your company provides.
• Focus on projects that excite you and allow you to use your unique talents and skills. All too often, we get caught up in the humdrum work that is not particularly interesting, and that doesn’t excite us. Try to seek out projects that allow you to use your talents and skills, and that downright excite you. I realize that not all work projects fall into this category, but to the extent you can, make sure you always have at least one really juicy project to focus on that can help to eclipse all of the other, less desirable ones.
• Stretch yourself and try something new. Tired of doing the same old type of work over and over again? Then seek new pastures at work. Let it be known that you’d like to try some new ways of doing things, or new types of projects. Try to do a similar task or project a different way, or choose different colleagues to work with you from time to time. Mix it up to keep things from getting stale.
• Go for the gold and seek a promotion, a new client or account. If you realize that you are actually holding yourself back, start to think about how you can “go for it” in your work. Can you apply for that amazing opening in another division that you have been eyeing? How about a promotion in your own department? When was the last time you tried to obtain a great new client or head up an initiative or project? Be your own best advocate and the passion will flow a lot more than usual!