It’s the 15th of February, and just yesterday the price of roses, chocolates and dinner would have skyrocketed to astronomical levels. The business of Valentine’s Day each year is pretty serious.
Love is so strong an emotion that even level headed people succumb to the commercialisation of it.
While it may not be a drug, being in love certainly has the effect of a rather strong one. It floods our brains with chemicals that can induce feelings of everything from pleasure to intense focus and connection.
Being in love can make you feel euphoric, says Dr. Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist and author of "Why Him? Why Her?: Love By Understanding Your Personality Type".
Her research has shown a link between strong feelings of love and increased levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain. This substance gets released when you are with someone you love, which explains feeling “high” when you are with someone you love deeply.
The sensation of being in love also decreases other “pain-points”.
For example a study published by the world’s first multidisciplinary open access journal, PLOS ONE in 2010, found that when people were touched with a hot probe, their pain decreased more when they were shown photos of loved ones, than it did when they were simply distracted by being asked to do another task.
As you can see, science shows that humans get intoxicated by love and that it is such a visceral motivation.
Imagine if you fell in love with your job!
My experience is that most people don’t really love their work. Quite a few like their jobs, and some tolerate it, but it is a minority who find work they love, which also supports their lifestyle.
You can function and work in a job without ever loving what you do. Most people understand that because they need to make a living, even though their job might have unpleasant parts, they just have to crack on and get it done.
But just cognise how much more effective you would be if you actually loved what you do, or at the least, attempted to learn to love your job.
There are aspects of what I do that I truly love. And when I am in that zone, time flies at work. That is the first discernable effect of love at your work place. You will be shocked every time you check the clock. The hours will seem to just disappear. Each day goes by quickly and you realise that you actually get a lot of things done.
When you love what you do, you will challenge yourself, push harder, and take the necessary risks to get better outcomes.
Getting out of the comfort zone becomes easier. If you are leaders you will also create an environment in your organisation that encourages your team to take risks, experiment and test limits.
You will not take punitive action on every mistake that is done. Loving your job helps you create an empowered workplace.
When you love what you do, you also instinctively understand the value of good quality workplace relationships. You will develop friendships that are connected and strong with your co-workers.
And, they will want to be with you, because you will be engaging.
My experience also tells me that when teams really bond the results are phenomenal. There will competition and people will push each other, and make each other accountable for their actions. And when you consider your colleagues more as friends than anything else, you've definitely created something very special.
In a lot of ways, working at the right company is like dating or a successful marriage.
These are some signs that you are in love with your job.
Your work is the first thing you think about when you wake up in the morning. If you are the sort of person who doesn’t need to hit the “snooze” button when the alarm goes off in the morning, because you know you want to get ready for work, then you know you love your job.
Similarly, if think about what you did at work that day and start planning your next day’s itinerary as you get to bed to sleep at night, you love your job.
I am sure you have a friend who cannot stop talking about work when you meet them outside work hours for a meal or a drink. They speak passionately and enthusiastically about the business, or their plans at work.
You want to get annoyed with them, but you get pulled into their contagious eagerness. And at best, you leave feeling envious that they have such a great job.
This is a person who loves their work.
If you have never thought about leaving your organisation, you will fall into one of these two categories; either you love your job or you are just not good enough for another company.
I hope you are in your job because you love it.
Work never quite feels like work if you love what you do. And, I hope you had a beautiful Valentine’s Day with your loved one.
Shankar R. Santhiram is managing consultant and executive leadership coach at EQTD Consulting. He is also the author of the national bestseller “So, You Want To Get Promoted?”