Enthusiasm gives you the energy to do something. 
Obviously enthusiasm is greater the more you like to do something.
If for example you like to read, it seems clear that you become more active and creative when it comes to doing something that has to do with books, writing, reading.
Now if you hate (i.e. completely lack enthusiasm) to do the dishes, chances are high that pots and plates are piling up in your sink, that your kitchen starts looking like a war zone after a while and that you run out of clean plates which will be the ultimate push to finally start doing the dishes.
On the other hand, the pile of dishes could convert into a great enthusiasm to go out and buy a dishwasher.
At work, action is always required but enthusiasm is often hard to create.
If your boss asks you to crunch some numbers – because he can, is the boss, must feel superior, is too lazy to do it himself – you will most likely take longer to do it than if he’d explained to you what exciting project those numbers are for, how important they and your contribution are and how he wants you to get highly involved in this project.
Then again, maybe you just love number crunching…
But you would have to agree that any communication that involves some sort of conveyed emotion such as enthusiasm, energy, excitement, probably gets a more positive result.
Thomas John Watson, Sr. was the founder of IBM, and he said,
“The great accomplishments of man have resulted from the transmission of ideas of enthusiasm.”
How hard is it to convey messages with enthusiasm?
Not that hard believe me.
Unless of course one is not enthusiastic or passionate about or does not believe in the message. How many bosses, leaders, politicians just cannot seem to get it right, are just boring, hard to listen to, hard to understand? And why is that? Do they believe in their own message? If they are all excited, then they probably do. If they are just listless speakers in front of a half asleep audience, they probably just pass on something they were told.
“The most powerful engine of success is enthusiasm. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your mission. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” says American essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson.
I agree that is is difficult to bring up the energy to do (or try to do) everything with all your might and soul.
But just think: enthusiasm, like laughter, is contagious and it energizes. And energy is important for performance and learning.
Look around you: who are the ‘energizers’ around you?
People’s position in the energy network is a much higher and more consistent predictor of performance than the ability to get information from networks and/or impersonal sources.
Furthermore, people are much more likely to turn to and learn from energizers than de-energizers.
Energizing interactions:
-
are focused on a compelling vision;
-
unfold in ways that allow parties to contribute meaningfully;
-
capture the full engagement of participants;
-
are marked by progress, and
-
create a context in which hope and enthusiasm are generated.
So by being enthusiastic one creates enthusiasm, and energy, and hope, and progress, and meaningful contributions, and full engagement…
“Life begets life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending
oneself that one becomes rich.” – Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923)
So how come so few people are really enthusiastic about things? Why don’t people just stick to only doing the things that excite them, that they are passionate about?
I agree that there are certain things that one has to do that are not exciting. But one should make it a goal in life to reduce those things to a minimum. The world would be a much happier place.