Are You Happy At Work?
In this episode we discuss finding your passion and purpose in your work. Within each field there is opportunity to express your passion & purpose and if you feel that currently, you’re not in alignment with that, know that you are not necessarily stuck. There are avenues where you can explore that on a deeper level in efforts to feel personally fulfilled.
This episode is dedicated to connecting to your purpose at work specifically, but it is no secret that you don’t have to be your happiest at work and still feel like you are living a fulfilling life. However, we spend a significant portion of our lives ‘working’ and it can be life altering to affirm your life’s purpose through your career.
Without feeling a sense of purpose, people will inevitably be more vulnerable to anxiety, depression, and even addiction. To demystify finding one’s purpose, let’s equate purpose to connecting with creating meaning in our lives. We can create meaning by simply deciding what is important to us, and then we constructively channel our energy towards that thing.
It helps to reflect on a core list of values and identify your top values and beliefs. Think about what inspires you and when you feel your best. It will take some effort to do this- and that’s okay! Believing that we all wake up knowing exactly what we want to do, or that we should have some big a-ha moment is a myth. Exploring your purpose is a process of exploring your passions, and this really is a journey!
Linda Gottfredson is a well known psychologist who specialized in intelligence research and proposed that individuals make decisions about their future careers in early childhood and explained this process by a theory of Circumscription and Compromise. She defined Circumscription as the process of ruling out career options based on what society has said is ‘suitable’ for them. Typically this process is out of the child’s awareness, but forms their self-concept. The impact of their beliefs surrounding career options is long lasting. This process typically references sex type roles and prestige. For example, once a child recognizes themselves as a ‘boy’, they are more willing to cut out career choices that appear to ‘feminine’ in the eyes of society, and thereby the child. She goes on to discuss this evolution in further detail, and introduces the process of Compromise. This is the stage where individuals exclude options that may be more compatible with their self-concept, and opt for choices that appear to be more accessible. For example, someone may love the idea of being a physician, but they have a compromised immune system and cannot expose themselves to germs on a daily basis. Or, a person may want to be a firefighter but have not had the motivation to learn the details of what it will take to become one, so they decide to work at a local store where they feel comfortable with the daily tasks.
When you have a clearer understanding of how your childhood experiences may have influenced your current job/career choices, you can more mindfully approach a future career change. By asking yourself some of the questions listed below, you can feel more empowered to make a change to connect with a career that feels more purposeful to you.
What options have your ruled out and why?
What options have you perceived as beyond your reach and why?
What would make this job more acceptable to you and why?
Are there more ideal options you’ve ruled out because you see them as difficult/impossible?
If you are currently in a job that is not satisfying, what is keep you there? What are you sacrificing?
What could you do to be more marketable for getting the job you want?
What have you done to explore this option further? Is this a realistic option for you?
If you’re still feeling stuck, return to finding your passion. Expand your perspective by getting out of your comfort zone and trying something new. Reflect on things you’ve struggled with and identify what helped you overcome that situation. Surround yourself with others living out their passion! And, if you’re willing to do some deep inner work, connect with your inner child. Reflect on playfulness and what you loved to do as a kid. Sometimes we forget about the importance of joy as adults. We might get wrapped up in to-do lists, responsibilities, and obligations, losing our sense of passion altogether. If you are someone who feels a little numb to the idea of passion and purpose, it’s worth doing this work to reconnect to yourself in this way.
Here’s a preview of the episode:
(1:40) Defining purpose
(3:30) Start with joy to figure out what is bringing meaning to your life
(5:55) Why many of us start feeling stuck or lacking purpose in our vocation: Gottfredson’s Career Theory
(10:14): Orientation to unique self: Who am I and what does this mean for the choices I make?
(14:25): Figuring out opportunity, qualifications, and a support network to determine if this is a career you actually want to have
(18:49): How to find your passion
(22:35): Surround yourself with others living out their passions
(27:40): reconnect to your inner child
(28:30): Concrete resources to help you align with your purpose: How to become aware of your personality and how it interacts with environment: RIASEC Test & Myers Briggs