There are many things that we look for in our quest for a fulfilling career. There’s material well-being, a sense of security and stability. I know ideally, we’d like to enjoy ourselves and find contentment too. Also, most people would consider earning excellent money in a fulfilling career the best job ever!
Hundreds of psychological studies have found ‘a sense of meaning and purpose’ at the core of what we consider to be a ‘fulfilling life’. When your life has real meaning and a true purpose, you enjoy a sense of pride and well-being that most people only dream of. Don’t we want that in every area of our lives, including our careers? On that note, let’s take a look at how to find purpose on the quest for a fulfilling career.
But if you had to choose between two careers, which of the following would you choose? An unfulfilling yet high-paying career, or one where you’d discover your true potential but make an awful salary? Many of us just might choose the option that paid better but that would be a mistake!
How To Find Purpose On The
Quest For A Fulfilling Career
It’s Always Best to Start Fresh!
The best thing to do is to, more often than not, embrace the power of a fresh start. Brave the unknown in pursuit of a new challenge, no matter how daunting that may seem. This might mean moving to a different department in your existing company. Or it could mean looking for a new role in a different company. It might even mean shifting your entire career focus!
Perhaps moving to a new city would help give you the nudge you need to try a new career? If you did end up moving, you should get in touch with interstate removalists and change your physical location, too! There are so many benefits to a fresh start and not just the practical ones. Like it’s not only the fact that a job or company may have new opportunities.
A major aspect of the ‘benefits’ you’re gaining is actually psychological. Almost a year ago I wrote a post about death and divorce, as they related to job loss/change, all being a part of a symbolic ‘rebirth’. Just think how much easier it would be to dive right into your ‘fresh start’ having just been symbolically born anew?
If you’re skeptical about these ‘symbolic elements of life’, just ask yourself why millions of people treat their New Year’s resolutions as almost sacred and magical oaths? Why is it any more meaningful to quit smoking or to start going to the gym on January 1st than on any other day of the year? It’s hard not to become cynical, especially when indulging in self-righteous attitudes and forming expectations that people should behave a certain way.
Ask Yourself What Your Values Are?
It can be tricky to figure out which career would be most meaningful to you in the abstract. This is why when others find themselves in this very conundrum, they’re sometimes prompted to share what their values are. And of course, on the quest for the most fulfilling career, you’ll need to know what it is that actually fulfills you. There’s a good chance that as you’re reading this, you’re suddenly utterly confused.
If the thought of answering “what are my values?”, ” and what do I find fulfilling, in both life and in a career?”, you’re not alone! But before you can answer the question of what fulfills you, you must first discover what your values are. Because once you’ve done that, you’ll instinctively know what fulfills you, why you prefer one thing over another, even the likelihood as to whether or not you’ll ever marry a certain person! But first, you’ll need to know what, in general, values are.
Your values are the things you find most important in the way you live your life and perform in your career. They should also help you decide what your priorities are. Ultimately, we use our values to see if our lives are on the ‘right path’? Think about it, how would we ever know if we’re going in the right or wrong direction with any given thing we do? We’re subconsciously measuring everything in our life or career against what our core values are.
Put Principles Above Profits
As the old saying goes, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”. Very few people ever actually start out on a given path in life with bad intentions. Alas, we often end up walking down paths that ultimately lead us away from our own best intentions and loftiest ambitions. This is purely because we get in the habit of compromising along the way and following the path of least resistance.
But, if push came to shove, could you really claim that you were always honest in your professional life? And that you refused to compromise your core values and principles, even when your career was on the line? Being “true to yourself” is a prerequisite to finding positive meaning in your work, not to mention self-respect. And a major part of being true to yourself is refusing to compromise on the important stuff.
Don’t Be Afraid To Abandon a Doomed Project
Entrepreneurs are famously tenacious and hard-working – not least of all because, in order to make it as an entrepreneur, you often have to absorb and move through all kinds of setbacks for years and years, before finally making it to a point where you can realistically consider your business a “success.”
Although tenacity is a virtue, it’s possible to become way too invested in a project or business venture. Some will stick with that project for years, even as it spirals downwards and drains the joy out of your life. Sometimes you just need to know when it’s time to abandon a doomed project! This way you can choose to invest your time, energy, and resources into something else.
Even the most esteemed figures in business invariably have failures on their track record. But when someone like Richard Branson comes up with a business idea that flops, he doesn’t stick with it until it ruins him. He moves on to the next thing. If a business venture still seems genuinely worthwhile to you – and still inspires positivity in you – it may well be worth fighting for. But if every day has become a drag, and you no longer “believe” in what you’re doing, it’s time to call it quits and try something else.
Never Forget To Practice Self-Care!
When you are totally distraught and have all sorts of personal issues weighing you down – ranging from health problems to relationship drama to issues with your boss! – the whole world can easily seem like a pretty daunting place. It can be hard not to become cynical, especially when indulging in self-righteous attitudes and forming expectations that people should behave a certain way.
When your perceptions of things are clouded in this way, it’s only natural that you might find it difficult to find your purpose on the quest for a fulfilling career. Taking active steps to optimize your own health and well-being will give you a more positive outlook on the world. This is where some good ‘ole fashioned self-care comes in handy!
Self-care needs to involve time to think your way through whatever you’re dealing with and feel the emotions that come with them. In fact, performing an act of self-care could easily consist of getting out some drawing materials, sketching pencils, paints, and just allowing yourself to be creative. It doesn’t matter if you’re a ‘professional artist’, the act of “coloring” has been curing people of all ages for a very long time now. Trust yourself, trust your process.
Co-Written & Edited by Jessica Rose Adams
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