6 Ideas for Seeking Meaningful Work That Motivates Us
/"What motivates us?" is a question that nearly everyone has asked themselves at one time or another.
While understanding what motivates us can help us become more successful at work, it is also important to consider meaningful careers. As technology continues to advance and job markets are increasingly competitive, meaningful jobs are becoming harder to find.
If you would like to seek meaningful work but your current career lacks just that, or you simply wish to explore other avenues for meaningful work, the following five ideas will help you get started.
Why Do People Seek Out Meaningful Work?
When considering meaningful work, many people cite feeling valued and appreciated as primary motivators for seeking careers. Recognition is often a driving factor in influencing decisions to change career paths or explore options outside of one's current field.
No matter how valuable you are to your company until you feel that your contributions are properly acknowledged it can be difficult to stay motivated.
People with meaningful jobs also typically enjoy their work, which is an important component in overall job satisfaction. People who are engaged and satisfied by the work they do report greater levels of happiness than those who are not engaged or satisfied.
How to Seek Meaningful Work?
For most people, meaningful work is more than just a paycheck. Thus, it is often a by-product of an activity that the person finds intrinsically meaningful or enjoyable.
In order to identify meaningful work, you may need to direct your attention toward those activities that bring you joy and/or provide a sense of purpose. If you can pinpoint what those activities are, then as long as they're legal, there are meaningful career options out there for you.
One way to identify meaningful work is to consider the times in your life when you have felt most fulfilled -- chances are, meaningful activities are associated with many of them.
6 Ideas for Seeking Meaningful Work
1) Focus on what brings you joy.
If you've never asked yourself "What brings me joy?" you may want to give it a try.
Asking this question can help direct your attention toward meaningful activities, which in turn will make meaningful work feel more attainable and help cultivate hope for finding meaningful work.
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2) Seek out some positions.
If you're seeking meaningful work, the first place to look is within meaningful positions that currently exist.
Doing meaningful work in a certain role may be more meaningful than choosing to go after a job that doesn't exist yet.
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3) Develop skills and experiences related to meaningful work.
As you're looking for meaningful jobs, try developing skills and experiences that will make it easier for you to find meaningful work, or that will make meaningful work more easily attainable.
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4) Help others by becoming a mentor or providing guidance.
Sometimes meaningful work comes from helping others become successful.
If you enjoy working one on one with people or guiding individuals through career transitions, meaningful coaching may be the path for you.
5) Become an advocate for meaningful work.
You can advocate meaningful work beyond your job search by partnering with valuable organizations and mentoring individuals.
By volunteering, participating in meaningful conversations, and sharing information about meaningful work on social media you can help promote concepts and encourage mentorship opportunities.
6. Explore meaningful work options that exist outside of mainstream career paths.
Sometimes meaningful work isn't found in a "traditional" job, but rather through non-profit organizations or social enterprises.
You can still make contributions through labor and entrepreneurship by finding organizations that suit your interests and values, where you can make meaningful contributions.
You can also develop work options for yourself by working as an independent contractor or becoming a consultant.
No matter how well-paying your current position is, it can be difficult to stay motivated when you feel that your contributions are not acknowledged.
By identifying meaningful work options and taking steps to develop skills or obtain experiences that lead to new things, you will increase the likelihood of meaningful work feeling attainable.
Final Thoughts
In order to find meaningful work, focus on what brings joy and understand that this type of work sometimes comes from already existing positions or skills that help bring about valuable experiences for others. Seek those things that motivate you to become meaningful work.