Professional Love Stages - Keep your professional passion alive

There comes a time in your career when the job is no longer challenging or satisfactory. Such as in some relationships, it just so happens that the current situation that you are in is no longer helping you evolve professionally, thus it is time to move on. Sometimes, there are parties guilty of tarnishing the relationship, whether we are referring to professional of personal ones. I have discovered that relationships and jobs have a honeymoon period, also known as the Passion stage, the time when the romance and intense attraction bonds you together. The Passion, or “In Love”, stage is strong and significant and can last on average two years.

The Realization stage is the period in the relationship, whether personal or professional, when the honeymoon ends and you start to accept the other as they truly are. During this stage, you lay down the groundwork for the future with acceptance, respect, and willingness to change.

This leads me to the next stage, Rebellion. A time when being late is no longer stressful, or calling to check in with your whereabouts is no longer a priority. During this period, you claim to be right and you always justify your tardiness and sloppy work, if that is the case.

The Cooperation stage is the time in the relationship that you have accepted where you are, perhaps by receiving a raise you’ve accepted the fact that the job isn’t so bad after all. Yes, the work itself is the same, but the money makes up for it. You’ve managed to grow in your personal life as well, buying a bigger home, a nicer car, and once-a-year holidays, and losing out on that hard earned raise just won't fit into your, now lavish, lifestyle.

Skipping ahead to the sixth stage of a relationship, the Explosion stage, this can typically occur at any time. This stage can break the relationship because it is no longer appealing to your needs. Professionally speaking, you are no longer happy with the work that you are producing or the projects that you are completing. In this stage, you may start looking for a new path or job.

In any kind of relationship, you must be willing to nurture it and feel comfortable expressing yourself. Such as in a personal relationship one must be able to grow personally, professional relationships are not any different. Having understanding and down to earth colleagues may help, but when the work itself becomes a chore rather than a welcomed task, you must ask yourself if it is worth the blood, sweat, and tears.

If you have been fortunate, or unfortunate, enough to have experienced these stages in your job, you learn to appreciate a good thing when you have it. The same can be said for personal relationships, you must be willing to go through a few bad people so you can recognize and appreciate the good ones. Having gone through the professional relationship stages a few times myself, I have finally found a place where it doesn't feel like work. A place I look forward to going to every day, where the work is both satisfying and rewarding, and hard work is recognized and rewarded.

There is truth to the old saying - If you find something you love to do, you won't work a day in your life.