All of us, at one point or another, have felt the work we are doing lacks purpose. Many people take huge leaps each year to abandon jobs and start new ventures that fill them with meaning and purpose, but for many of us, that is not a simple option. So, instead we stay in the same habit of being unfulfilled, changing nothing, and dreaming of a life we will never possess. Do not despair if this is you, because it is not your only option.
There are many ways that professionally you can find more meaning and fulfillment in where you work, what you do, and who it affects. Of course, finding a way to actually begin feeling a purpose in what you do can be extremely challenging to figure out.
I am sharing three ways you can begin finding meaning in your current job. You will not find any drastic changes here, just functional ways to incorporate more meaning into your everyday life.
Start Internally: Find Your Path
The first step to finding meaning in your job is to look at the purpose of what you do. It is easy to write off our jobs as meaningless and purposeless because we do not see the everyday effect that our actions have. Despite this, whether we see it or not, every job has some type of meaning. Every job that exists serves a purpose and that is why society created it.
The trick to finding the meaning can be answered in three simple questions:
- Who could my work benefit?
- What are the values attached to this job?
- What do I need to feel fulfilled?
When we know the answers to these questions, we can begin to see ourselves in the bigger picture and take meaning from that. Perhaps we support the larger goal of the organization, unknowingly provide safety by following procedures or make someone’s life easier by the tasks we do.
