Do you ever feel stagnant or go through the motions at work? You may be languishing without career meaning and work fulfilment.
The good news is you can cultivate purpose and satisfaction in your work. Follow these 10 steps to shape a meaningful career path that motivates you actively.
#1. Reflect on Past Decisions
Analyse how you arrived in your current role. Did you intentionally choose this field based on interests and values? Or did you fall into it by taking any job offered?
Understanding the sequence of choices leading to your present job provides a useful perspective. A career coach can map your journey to pinpoint times you veered off an ideal path.
Examining discrepancies between your original motivations and your reality reveals areas for adjustment. Guiding questions and journaling techniques can uncover the passions that drew you to this work. With clearer hindsight, you gain the power to be more intentional moving ahead.
#2. Redefine Personal Success
Look beyond job titles and money earned to reconsider what success means. Your definition of success determines your fulfilment level.
Meaningful success often includes:
- Happiness – Feeling consistently content and fulfilled
- Achievement – Accomplishing goals that matter to you
- Significance – Making a positive impact on people/causes you care about
- Legacy – Establishing values and change that outlast your time somewhere
Assess your levels of success across each area. Envision your ideal future career and what thriving looks like on your terms in each dimension. Finding alignment is key to feeling energized.
#3. Clarify Your Mission
Distill your reflections into concise purpose, priorities, and benefactor statements to guide your path when feeling adrift.
Supplement these by listing your most important work values ranked. Also identify who you want to help through your efforts. Having clarity of mission enables recognizing aligning opportunities and declining misaligned ones.
#4. Craft Your Current Job
Before quitting, try crafting your role first. Tweak tasks, relationships, and perceptions to gain more fulfillment from your position. Ways to craft your job include:
- Finding meaning in mundane tasks
- Taking on new, satisfying projects
- Forming meaningful connections with colleagues
Discuss small changes with your manager. Reshape your job before considering a switch.
#5. Know When It’s Time to Move On
However, if repeated job crafting doesn’t provide expected meaning, moving on may be required. Signs it’s time for a change include:
- Core values misalignment
- Lack of strengths application
- Limited career growth potential
- Poor culture fit
Identify your non-negotiable needs in areas like purpose, values, strengths fit, culture, and growth. Seek out better-aligned roles proactively.
#6. Prioritise Regular Check-Ins
Avoid languishing by building in regular alignment checks. Every month or quarter, evaluate engagement and fulfilment levels. Are priorities shifting? Do you feel challenged, appreciated, and satisfied?
Quickly address misalignment. Don’t wait until burnout. With consistent upkeep, sustain career fulfilment.
#7. Expect an Iterative Process
Finding your purpose is typically an iterative journey. Continually clarify your mission, assess fit, craft your role, and adjust as required. Focus on deriving happiness, significance, achievement, and legacy from work.
#8. Visualise Your Future Career
Envisioning your ideal future career provides helpful clarity. What does your dream job look like? Where? With what types of responsibilities? Outline the details.
#9. Do Informational Interviews
Learn from professionals in appealing roles or companies. Ask about their experiences, meaningful projects, and typical day. Take notes on positions that resonate.
#10. Seek Out a Career Coach
An unbiased coach provides accountability, resources, and perspective. Guidance from a coach can be invaluable when navigating career meaning and making impactful decisions.
By taking purposeful steps to shape your path actively, you can find motivation and meaning in your work. Don’t settle for languishing – take charge of your career fulfilment.
Related Questions:
- How do I find my passion?
- What are examples of personal mission statements?
- How should I evaluate company culture fit?
Book your free discovery session.
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