The Secret to Meaningful Work: It’s All About You!
“Pursue your passion.”
That’s the way
to find meaning in your work, right?
Well, “pursue
your passion” is the typical phrase thrown around when people talk about
finding meaning in one’s work. And that’s not bad advice. Pursuing your passion
is one great way of finding meaning and happiness in your work. I did so myself when I
decided to become a professor and later the President of Intentional Insights.
Helping people
reach their goals using science-based strategies is incredibly motivating for me. I
get shivers of pleasure when I get emails from people thanking me for improving
their lives. I’m so tempted to stay up long into the night to make more
articles and videos to help spread such messages, energized by the vision of
how much better the world would be and how much happier people would be with
these tools. It’s better than coffee!
So are
you telling me I can’t find meaning in work that does not match my true
passion?
No, not at all!
The research shows that you
actually can make pretty much any work significantly more meaningful. Now that
should put a smile on your face!
Studies find
that your mental and physical well-being depend on having a rich sense of purpose and
meaning in life, so it’s wise to make your work meaningful.
I’ll cover one strategy on how to do that here, and two in a subsequent article
on this topic.
Before diving
into the strategies, let me clarify that I use the term “work” to refer to any
area in which you get paid to bring value to others. For example, the
government supports schools because students bring value by becoming educated
to make a better society for us all. House-husbands and house-wives bring value
by taking care of the home, and are supported by their partners. At Intentional
Insights, we create blogs, videos, apps, online classes, books, most available
for free, with those who value these products being out there volunteering or
offering donations to our nonprofit.
Ok, so
I’d like to make my work more meaningful—what’s the first strategy?
First, think
about the connection of your everyday work tasks to your personal
long-term goals at regular intervals. Being the President of
Intentional Insights helps me accomplish my long-term goal of improving the
world and helping people have better lives. But that higher purpose tends to be
lost in the everyday tasks of writing articles, fundraising, answering emails,
etc.
So every week
on Saturday afternoon, I sit down to review what I did that week. I think about
how it helped bring about the kind of world where I want to live. I imagine
that world, visualizing all the details of how much better off other people
are, how they make wiser decisions, how much less suffering and more joy there
is in the world. I let myself feel how good it would be to live in that world,
and how great it is that my daily work activities help bring that world into
reality. I then write my feelings and thoughts in my journal. I want to make
sure I have a record I can refer back to any time I get lost in the everyday
business of my work activities. Research shows journaling is a great strategy to gain a higher sense of meaning
and purpose in life. I also encourage others at Intentional Insights to connect
their long-term goals to their daily tasks, and to create an organizational
culture that facilitates such meaning-making activities.
While improving
people’s lives happens to be my goal, you should think about your own goals.
Maybe you think, “I only do my job for the paycheck.” Try to sit down at
systematic intervals and think about what your paycheck does for you. Does the
money help you accomplish your goal of having financial stability and security?
Does it help you have the kind of lifestyle you want? Does it help you support
your family? Visualize the specific things that the money does for you. Imagine
that world thoroughly, and feel all the positive emotions you get from that
world. Then, write down your feelings and thoughts, and refer back to them
whenever you’re feeling like you need to recall the reasons you’re doing what
you’re doing.
So
what’s the take-away here?
The take-away
is that you work for yourself, not anyone else. You do what you do for your own
reasons and goals. Always remember that and be intentional. Show agency in getting what you want from your work, including a sense
of meaning and purpose in life. Consult resources such as this science-based free workbook about
meaningful work, and this web appto measure your sense of meaning and purpose.
Consider sharing this article with your co-workers and/or supervisor if you
think they would benefit from reading it, and also if you would benefit from
them having read it.
BY GLEB
TSIPURSKY
http://www.lifehack.org/372436/the-secret-meaningful-work-its-all-about-you?mid=20160311&ref=mail&uid=687414&feq=daily
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