In a recent survey of 12,000 workers worldwide conducted by the Energy Project, only 50% of respondents found meaning in their jobs.1
Imagine spending 40 hours a week doing meaningless work. It’s soul-sucking, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
I understand why so many people stick with jobs that don’t provide meaning—it’s the money. And working “for the money” is not all bad. Having financial security so we can provide for our families is obviously a worthy reason. However, as important as money is, feeling that the work we do is meaningful matters too. It’s better for our health. It’s better for our relationships. And it just makes getting up in the morning much more desirable.
In an article in The Atlantic, author and cultural commentator David Brooks said, “There is no income level at which people are not desperate for meaning.”2
Business writer Dan Pontefract believes that we have three distinct ways of thinking about our work as it relates to our sense of meaning.3
The Job Mindset is a “paycheck mentality,” in which people perform their jobs purely for compensation.
The Career Mindset is triggered when we focus on advancement: making more money, getting that big promotion, increasing our power or sphere of influence.
Finally, the Purpose Mindset engages our feelings of passion, innovation, and commitment, and an outward looking focus on serving your employer as a whole.
Pontefract recommends spending a week tracking your mindset. At the end of every day, write down approximately how much time you’ve spent in the Job, Career, and Purpose mindsets. At the end of the week, tally up the totals. These numbers can give you some insight into you mindset around your work.
While I think that a time-tracking approach might be overkill, I do believe there is tremendous merit in being conscious of how you are oriented toward your work from day to day. Are you spending the majority of your time grinding towards that Friday paycheck, or looking for ways to get ahead? How does your time spent in the Job and Career mindsets compare to the time you spend in the Purpose mindset? Can you adjust your mindset and focus your energy more on how your work contributes to something bigger?
If you can’t balance out these mindsets in a way that allows you to find more meaning in your work, it could be time to talk to your supervisor about adjusting your role. It wouldn’t even be out the question to explore the next chapter of your career. Either way, we’d be happy to discuss this with you and help you position your financial resources to support your decision. Please reach out to us.
1. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/01/opinion/sunday/why-you-hate-work.html?_r=1
2. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/07/meaning-work-happiness-brooks/489920/
3. https://hbr.org/2016/05/youre-never-done-finding-purpose-at-work