Discovering the Known:

Working Hard vs Working with Passion

A few days back I was struggling if everyone who works hard really has passion. And the answer seems easy - NO

But then why do people work hard if they dont have passion? And how does passion differ? How would one differentiate a person with passion to a person who just works hard?

Passion

Passion as described at dictionary.com is:

A powerful emotion, Boundless enthusiasm, deep and overwhelming emotion

Work done with passion involves feelings and emotions

Work Hard

When people work hard, they have a "motive". These motives seem to vary drastically depending on the person, job, situation et all - they may include "proving oneself", "differentiating oneself from the pack", "feeding family" et all

Burn Out: It is therefore apparent that people who work hard may get themselves burnt out if the "motives" dont get fulfilled in a timely manner. Whereas people with passion would not burn themselves out

Switching Modes: I have realized that people may move from "work with passion" zone to "work hard" zone and vice-versa. Would have to think more about the circumtances on these switches. Does passion dwindle over time? over certain circumstances? I think the passion does gets lost - if the work involved loses the meaning that one associates with

Differentiating: 80% of the times I believe it is easy to recognize that emotion which accompanies when you talk to the people in the "work with passion" zone

"Working Long" vs "Working Hard"

I came across an interesting article through the google search. It claimed "working long" is what we mistake for "working hard" and "working hard" is really taking [calculated] risks:

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/69/sgodin.html