Does your career require meaning or a purpose?
Your career does not need to have any meaning—there does not have to be a purpose to it. Many of us think we need a career that has some sort of deep and meaningful impact on the world. Invent the latest gadgets, cure cancer, keep the streets safe, feed the hungry, medicate the sick—if you are not helping society somehow, then your career is not significant.
Well, we are here to tell you that is not the case—that is utterly rubbish, in fact. Why does your career need to have meaning? Society has deemed that a role that does not fulfil a certain standard is not worthy. Once again, what utter BS.
What a role needs to do—what a career needs to fulfil—is your personal happiness. We are not put on this earth to be work dogs. We are working so we can live. Our community can be as big or as small as we need and like. You can help your family and friends and be equally valued and important as the scientist who invented the Polio vaccine.
Yes, we need individuals who serve and assist the wider population. But that is their fulfilment, their purpose. We need to seek happiness and our purpose. Happiness is what leads to a long and healthy life.
Read the book Igiki- a Japanese concept in living a long and happy life. It will tell you that to be happy with your work, you need to make sure that you feel it has and gives you purpose. But that purpose does not have to be deep and meaningful. It can be as simple as getting an income.
I gained work experience as an HR admin / Receptionist early in my career. It was a shared role, where I did half the day’s HR administration, and the other half manned the front desk. I felt fulfilled. Did my work serve the community in any way? No. But my work did serve my workmates. I was able to help and make a difference in their work, which in turn made a difference to the various job seekers out there. I felt I had used my brain for a good portion of the day, and I had learnt new skills. I had a purpose.
Later, my purpose changed to being a mother. That became my career. Looking after one child does not impact a community – but it does impact that one child.
