We want to start this week’s post by thanking our incredible Monday Morning Business Coach community. Your questions and comments continue to fuel our thinking and shape what we think about each week.

In the past couple of months, quite a number of you have written to ask why we are sending out, free, these powerful tips to claiming your power and stepping into your leadership. So this week we wanted to take a moment to tell you how much our passion and success is tied to supporting you in claiming your passion and success. To do so, we offer a range of services from organizational culture change to practical strategic planning to leadership development to executive coaching and, of course, career leadership consultation. In all of our work, regardless of the setting, our passion is in helping individuals in their work and lives become powerful, influential, and successful in charting their bold, creative futures.

Jill Banks, our Director of Career Services, has written today’s post to get you thinking about your passion and success.

Passion and Success Do Not Equal Job Title

By Jill Banks

Our clients often tell me that one of the hardest questions they are asked when in a job search and career leadership discussion is, “What is your passion?” When confronted with this question they often repeat their corporate party line or say something they have heard from others. They get caught in believing that there is a ‘right’ answer, when in fact the answer is about what you most want to do with your moments, rather than a particular title you want. The essence of passion is in the work itself and the tasks you are performing, who you are working with, and who you are serving. When I ask clients to tell me what they love to do, teammates they like to work with, and who they want to serve, they often come to life—they feel passion.

This week, we invite you to answer the question, “What would I do with my time—if I knew I would succeed?”

By asking this question, you begin to move yourself from living in your current reality to living in a field of possibility. You open your mind to thinking outside of your box—a box in which you are comfortable and used to residing but that may not nurture your soul.

Take some time this week to ask yourself this question and see if you can come up with 4 or 5 different answers. Let yourself think broadly; think about all the things you love to do and would do if, in fact, you knew you would succeed.

Once you have started to imagine new possibilities, spend time creating a clear image of what it would look like, what you would be doing, how you would feel, and how others would relate to you. It’s important to realize that this exercise is about “dreaming big” and deepening your awareness of your dreams and therefore, your passion.

Once you have a clear, exciting image of your passion, only then can you begin to explore how to bring it to life and take steps towards weaving it into your career future. Most of us can identify the steps required to make a dream a reality if we can see the goal at the end of the journey.

Success and passion are not defined in a job title. You hold the key to discovery when you explore possibilities that are meaningful and exciting to you and you alone.