Find Meaning in Your Work

We all want to find meaning in our careers. This piece was inspired by a conversation I had recently with someone I have come to think of as a friend and they shared that the work they were doing did not bring them fulfilment, enjoyment, pleasure, happiness

No one wants to spend time and energy doing work that doesn’t bring them satisfaction and a sense of purpose.

Finding meaning in your work has another advantage: It leads to higher achievement. Creating or building achievement and significance is what will ultimately make you happy in life as a whole.

My contrarian viewpoint is many that often a job is not meaningful in and of itself

Meaning is all about what you bring to the job. So let’s walk through how you can find more meaning in your career, achieve better results, and feel more satisfied in your job and beyond.

The meaning you find in your job doesn’t come from your job; it comes from your sense of achievement.

For me, a key turning point in my career was identifying my “zone of genius.” It was a game-changer not only for my job satisfaction but also for my career advancement.

Our zone of genius is also where we find meaning because we’re using our talents.

To share an example I worked with a life coach and Tim was in his zone as a life coach, so he set up a coaching business he was also able to do so during my career as a corporate leader at some very large new publications. He loved mentoring my employees, helping them to take on stretch assignments, and helping them grow in their roles and get to the next level. It was truly his favourite thing to do.

So the question to ask yourself is what’s your zone of genius?

• What do you love to do?
• What are you good at?
• What kinds of tasks make you lose track of time because you’re so fully absorbed in them?

The second key ingredient in finding meaning in my career was building a legacy. A legacy is something that will create value and have an impact on the business as a whole, long after you’re gone.

Building legacies takes hard work and there are no guarantees, but they can create a ripple effect that will pay off in both the short term for your happiness and in the long term for your career.

What will your legacy be?

• What’s a problem you can fix?
• Where’s a gap in exactly the shape of your zone of genius?
• How can you contribute your unique skills in a way that’s needed?

you create the meaning, not the job. Taking action and creating value is how you’ll feel important and enjoy your work. When you’re working in your zone of genius on a legacy project, it’s indeed a lot of hard work. But you’re in this flow that carries so much energy. It feels great. Plus, you’re probably setting yourself up for a nice promotion.