What is your true passion?

Time for another check in on motivations in life via Psychologies Magazine. This weeks quick quiz of choice was to find out what my true passion is.

This is something that I’ve struggled to answer in the past. I don’t know what I want to do or be. I’m not entirely sure what my skills are, or wants and needs out of life. I’m not even sure that I could fully answer the question about what I enjoy most. So, after 8 deep and meaningful questions, the outcome to identify my true passion is….

Your core values centre on lifelong learning

You’re extremely motivated to get more knowledge under your belt, whether that’s academic learning, or through personal growth and self-development. You feel the most like ‘you’ when you’re acquiring new skills. You have a ‘growth mindset’ approach to life – you keep an open mind, and you never assume that you’re an expert at anything, because you know there is always more that can be learned. Therefore, it’s understandable that you may struggle more than most if you’ve been in the same job for a while, or feel as if your career isn’t offering any new challenges. The upside to this is that you become more motivated than most to embark on further education. You have the dedication to put in the time and effort to get professional qualifications that will support your ambition, either by advancing your career, or opening the door to a new one.

To be fair, I’ve done a number of these short quizzes now and have to say that most of them do seem to have some resonance. I do enjoy learning new things, even at an academic level. I did my Bachelors Degree when I was 40 and my Masters at 45. I’ve done a number of online courses both around academic study and personal growth and self-development. I would certainly never claim to be an expert at anything but have a decent awareness or appreciation for a number of things. I can quiet easily sit and read a 131 page long-term plan document in order to get that golden nugget I need from it. I will study a policy document, in fact I’ll write a fair number of them too. I don’t have a problem reading a text book to learn how to do something better. I am quite happy spending all day listening to speakers at conferences, work related or not. You’ll always find something out you didn’t know before, or be sign posted somewhere else to expand you understanding of an area. I’ll quite often have pen and paper to hand when I listen to certain podcasts as they often refer to other writers or articles or programmes that might be interesting.

The one great thing I’ve always said about #bellringing is that you won’t know everything. There’s always a new method to learn, or a teaching technique that you suddenly find helpful, or a resource that you could utilise that you hadn’t before. And if you think that you do know everything there is to know, that’s when you start to share it with others and help them learn and reach their potential.

I was never particularly academic at school. I did ok and enough to get by with some decent O level grades (now that ages me). I didn’t quite get enough to be able to A levels and therefore never had the opportunity to go to university in earlier years. I did feel that that held me back somewhat. One job I had, I ended up doing 3 people’s roles and doing the work of the manager, but I was told by the Director that I couldn’t have that job (and therefore salary) because I didn’t have a degree. Despite the fact that I’d been doing the role for a number of years. Suffice to say that was enough to spur me on both in terms of finding a different job, but reigniting my education.

I went on to complete 3 NVQs in Business Administration and Business Management, before enquiring about support for a degree. Once I’d got the learning bug I was off. I acknowledge that I was extremely fortunate in that my employer paid my university fees and allowed me study leave, and my family were supportive. My daughter at the time was starting on her GCSEs and we sort of became study buddies when we both got out laptops out to work. My Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management took 5 years to complete as it was part time whilst I was working full time and had family and #bellringing commitments. Then I went straight into my Masters course in Senior Healthcare Leadership which was another 2 years. I’m always interesting in courses that come up at work, but have to acknowledge that others may benefit from them and I’ve had my turn. I’m always happy to learn more. And, crucially, I like to share my new knowledge with colleagues. No point in keeping all that new stuff to yourself if you don’t help others.

I hope I continue to find new things to learn, expand my horizons, provide me with new opportunities.