Marketing guru Seth Godin has just set a bunch of us wondering if we really and truly are workaholics.

I always thought I was.  After all, I’m driven to work 50+ hours a week.  It’s not enough just to be in the office, I actually have to be contributing something.  If I spend an entire day that’s completely unproductive, I feel uncomfortable and restless.  The prospect of spending three months of maternity leave doing absolutely nothing but caring for a new baby makes me a little, well, nauseous. 

But Seth suggests that true workaholics live on fear, and that it’s this that drives them to show up all the time.  In the twenty-first century, a new class of workers is emerging – people who work out of passion and curiosity, not fear.

Says Seth:  “The passionate worker doesn't show up because she's afraid of getting in trouble, she shows up because it's a hobby that pays. The passionate worker is busy blogging on vacation because posting that thought and seeing the feedback it generates is actually more fun than sitting on the beach for another hour. The passionate worker tweaks a site design after dinner because, hey, it's a lot more fun than watching TV.”

Well, go figure.  This describes me – and my job as an author and career expert – perfectly.  I guess I’m not really a workaholic, but rather a passion-holic.  I will have to tell this to my husband next time he grumbles that I’m burning the midnight oil in front of the computer yet again!