I often am asked the question; “How do I find meaning in my work?”
This happens to all of us at some point in our lives, sometimes even on a regular basis – we look around at ourselves, our job, and how we are spending our time, and we ask ourselves;
What am I doing here?
What is the point?
Responsibilities and adventures bring meaning
We would all rather be relaxing on a tropical beach or adventuring up a remote mountain, but we all have responsibilities and are doing the right thing by attending to them as best we can.
Doing the best we can within the every day grind does not however always satisfy us or bring us meaning
How do we find Meaning?
Meaning comes from a personal feeling of achievement where we can reference ourselves to others or a situation from a position of personal success.
Three things we co do to find meaning in our work
There are three simple things that we can do to allow ourselves to feel that success and find meaning in our work every day.
Quantify your achievements daily. Find a task or set of tasks to complete, or goal to achieve every day. Make a point of writing it down in your diary and giving yourself a score out of 5 as to how satisfied you are with your achievement. The intentional completion of simple tasks consciously is a powerful way to program your subconscious for success and helps to create a positive spiral of self worth, achievement and meaning.
Set a fun goal to achieve. You are working hard for your money, so set a simple goal to reward yourself for all that hard work. Start saving some of your hard earned cash for a weekend away with your friends or loved one, save for a new car stereo or BBQ, or new gym trainers. Something that can be achieved with in four to six months. Working towards and attaining that goal serves to deepen your spiral of achievement and meaning that you started in point one.
Set a realistic goal to become financially free. If necessary sit down with a financial planner and work out a schedule and course of action to follow to attain your financial freedom. Once you are debt free, life takes on new meaning and new purpose. Be prepared to shift your goals and expectations to the financially free option and you will be surprised at how much more motivation and meaning you have in your every day life!
You are not your job!
Remember that you are not your job or your work!
Your work is what you do for money. It is wonderful that you can build a career, but your career is not who you are!
Understand this and the meaning that you find in your work will add huge amounts of value to your life
Work hard and be successful and make a point of having fun!