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This post is related to a quote by Malcom Gladwell. If you haven’t yet, go read it and then come back here.

Lately, I feel like I’ve had several discussions with friends who feel as if their work lacks meaning. But they don’t know where to go from there. They feel unable to discover the company or next career step that will allow them to do meaningful work. They’re not even sure what that meaningful work would be.

They’re not even sure what that meaningful work would be.

I like Gladwell’s quote, but I think for some people the general idea is a stumbling block. They’re either looking for the quick fix, where meaningful work drops in their laps, or the “high & mighty,” top-level, “save the world” meaningful work, and they can’t find it.

Like a lot of things in life, the concept of meaningful work is really a spectrum, not a target. If you feel like you can’t find anything meaningful in the work you do, are you looking for the right thing?

The little picture:
It’s not all about saving the world.

Can daily tasks be meaningful? In general, I enjoy what I do each day. But I’ve begun to realize that what makes my work matter, what makes it meaningful to me (and to others) comes from a wide variety of areas. Sometimes I find meaning in learning something new or creating something original. Sometimes I find it in completing a project well, or really pleasing a client.

But sometimes, I endure a task.

But sometimes, I endure a task. It’s something I hate doing or is inconvenient at the moment, but by doing it, I’ve done something extremely meaningful for someone else who was relying on me. Meaningful work isn’t always fun. And it isn’t always fulfilling, right in the moment.

You say: “So what? Finding pieces of significance in daily work is nice, but I hate my job. It’s not meaningful, and I still don’t know where to go from here.”

Explore your possibilities.

Let me refer back to a chunk of the quote:

“Meaningful work is work… that is complex, that occupies your mind… where there is a relationship between effort and reward.

Sit with that a bit. Meaningful work has:

1. complexity
2. requires contemplation, thought, problem solving
3. will reward your performance

Don’t think about… how hard you’ve decided it will be to make a change to something you haven’t even thought of yet.

If that doesn’t fit your current situation, job, or career, what will? Don’t get stuck here. Don’t think about how you don’t know the answer, or about how hard you’ve decided it will be to make a change to something you haven’t even thought of yet.

Still nothing? This is the hardest part for many people. The key (at least for me) is that meaningful work happens in areas that you are passionate about.

It may sound weird, but some people have never explored things they’re passionate about. You may even be one of them, never having realized it. You just thought you weren’t passionate about anything. Why?

Passion is scary.

Sometimes people won’t acknowl-
edge their passions because they know that somewhere in life, they veered off course…

Passion is a scary idea to anyone who has a tendency to play it safe. A lot of people shut down rather than explore an idea or topic that triggers them emotionally. Or, somewhere, deep down, they know that the things they’re really passionate about are the things that everyone around them wouldn’t understand, or wouldn’t think to be practical. Sometimes people won’t acknowledge their passions because they know that somewhere in life, they veered off course, they chose safety over their passion and now realize that pursuing their passions in order to get to a meaningful career will take a lot more work than it would have years ago.

But the truth is that, in general, the excuses you’ve made are bullshit.

So what? I think many of us have a built-in tendency to make excuses. It’s easier to think up excuses than to do the work that will get us where we really want to be. But the truth is that, in general, the excuses you’ve made are bullshit.

I used to buy the excuses. Honestly, sometimes I still do, but only for a moment. I’ve gotten better at recognizing them, breaking them down, and continuing to move forward. It’s something you can work on too, but only if you start recognizing the excuses you’ve fabricated for what they are.

Meaningful work is still work.

As humans, we organize around comfort. This isn’t an altogether bad thing, until you realize that comfort ? happiness, fulfillment, or meaning.

This might be the biggest reason most people haven’t left their meaningless work behind to do meaningful work. As humans, we organize around comfort. This isn’t an altogether bad thing, until you realize that comfort ? happiness, fulfillment, or meaning.

Comfort is none of those things, but in it’s pursuit we often sacrifice in many other areas of our lives. Perhaps the work that will be most meaningful to us doesn’t pay as well. It’s still rewarding commensurate to your effort, but possibly not in the monetary sense in comparison to your current job.

Or, maybe the work you really need to be doing will require you to move, or to enter a different social circle, or even to cut out some of those people I referred to earlier: the ones who will tell you your passions are silly, or stupid, or meaningless.

Or, maybe it will actually be more work. If you do something you’re passionate about, you’ll spend more time working on it. I’d argue this is a good thing, but some people are afraid of work in general.

… the best way to ensure I don’t get what I want out of life is to expect that it won’t take any effort on my part.

Or, maybe you’re too impatient. I have a tag on this blog—I used it for this post—called: life is just one stupid-long journey. It’s a bit tongue-in-cheek, because life actually goes by pretty fast, but it’s a reminder for myself that getting the things I want out of life requires time. It doesn’t fall in my lap, and it doesn’t happen all at once. In fact, the best way to ensure I don’t get what I want out of life is to expect that it won’t take any effort on my part.

The bottom line:

1. Discovering your passion and making the move toward being able to do meaningful work will, in itself, require work and effort (and possibily discomfort) on your part.
2. Meaningful work is still work. It will require an investment of time and energy and resources. It may even take a lifetime to begin to see the big picture of it all.

The big picture.

…is my work only meaningful if other people recognize it as such?

At the beginning of this article I mentioned that some people have trouble recognizing meaning in their work because it doesn’t (at first glance), pass the “save the world” test. We’re getting a bit existential for one little blog post, but the question at hand: is my work only meaningful if other people recognize it as such?

On some level, I’m sure that question is worth exploring, but if, through your work, you are pursuing your passion and doing something that feeds your soul, there’s probably a good chance that work is meaningful to people other than simply yourself.

• Bonus Kick-in-the-Ass #1:
  Everybody’s Faking It, by Michael Tseng
• Bonus Kick-in-the-Ass #2:
  The High Cost of Pretending, by Merlinn Mann

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