Becoming a Professional MVP: Passion is to Sports as Excitement is to Your Career

The definition of sports can mean many different things depending on who you ask – ranging from the mainstream sports of basketball, baseball, football and hockey to biking, hiking, yoga and anything in between. But one thing that most of us can agree on is that passion is the underlying theme that drives us to pursue that particular interest area of physical activity.  

The athlete in all of us shines the brightest when we are playing, or watching our favorite sport because we possess an inexplicable and passionate hunger or craving to get the most out of that experience. We obsess over the details of the game and love spending hours upon hours talking about the intricacies of that sport until our throat becomes dry.

As it translates to the professional setting, we often answer the question “why do you aspire to have a career in this particular field”? with “because I’m passionate about this job/industry”. That’s all fine and dandy, and obviously one of the best reasons to pursue a particular career. However, I encourage you to also introduce the word (excitement) into your everyday thinking of whether or not the career you are (passionate) about is the right one.

You’ll never work a day in your life if you enjoy what you do, right? This is because you will have excitement in your daily routine – excitement is contagious, infectious and novel. Follow what excites, not what bores you. Too many of us get caught in a career that we assume is the right move because we are simply, but only, passionate about it. Yet, not all of us take the time to put sincere thought into whether the roles and responsibilities of that job excite us enough to evoke and conjure up an emotional energy.

Obviously the lines between defining these two terms – passion and excitement – can be somewhat blurred; so I implore you to smartly identify the similarities and differences between the two as you see fit. And know that it takes a combination of these two identifiers to be the best version of yourself every single day.

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 Patrick is a MS, Sport Management candidate at Drexel University set to graduate in Summer 2014. He is the Business and Operations Graduate Assistant for Drexel Athletics and is responsible for supporting the Administration and Operations staff of Drexel's Athletic Cabinet this year. Gallagher graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration, majoring in marketing and management, in May 2006 from Villanova University. During his enrollment, he was named Captain of the men's varsity soccer team and was appointed President of SAAC. He is looking to use his professional experience as a media sales consultant in New York, coupled with his passion for sports, to pursue a successful career in athletic administration.
You can connect with Patrick Gallagher on LinkedIn