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The title question in today's article prompts us to explore the differences between having a career that gives us a job vs having a meaningful career that gives us a sense of purpose.
What is the difference?
The difference is that a job is a much narrower description of what we do. It trades time for money. It focuses on 'what I get,' and 'how much can I get?'
A purpose allows passion and love and contribution to enter into the equation. We become broader in how we look at what we do. We allow ourselves to access a deep sense of personal mission that we wish to express in the world through our work.
I don't believe it's an accident that our economy is in decline right now. While it's not been true everywhere, the forces of greed have dominated many of our institutions and companies. There has been microscopic focus on quarterly results and quick results; and by results, companies mean profit.
Companies were forced by shareholders to examine each quarter's results and if those results weren't positive, they immediately began laying people off. The same thing happened with the mergers that began in the 1980's and continue to today. Once the mergers took place, hundreds and then thousands of people lost their jobs.It wasn't always this way.
Prior to the 1980's, companies were focused on long-term results. They understood that in the natural cycle of things, they might have downturns and quarters where they didn't make much profit, but they kept their eyes on good business practices and on building a business for long-term success.
We've all been infected by a need for instant results, instant profit and instant success. Just look at what has happened with the stimulus package. The President and Congress passed the largest stimulus bill in history and not a week later, Wall Street and investors were complaining they weren't seeing results yet.
That is simply crazy thinking!
What does this have to do with having a job or having a purpose?
Just this. For the past twenty years, young people flocked to schools of business, focused on how much money they could earn in their first year in a full time job, how quickly they could 'climb the ladder,' and how quickly they could accumulate their first million.
There's nothing wrong with wanting a secure income, building wealth or providing for one's family. But when that is the primary focus, things get out of kilter. The deeper needs of our nature go unaddressed.
When that happens, we can feel a sense of ennui, dissatisfaction and boredom. We ask, "Is this all there is?" We feel at sea and adrift in our own lives.
The wise person, however, knows that the job we hold HAS to be connected to meaning, to a sense of purpose, to the ability to make a contribution. If it isn't, or if we feel we aren't able to make a contribution through our work, we are greatly dissatisfied and life seems dry as dust.
So what can we do?
We can ask ourselves, first of all, if we feel that what we are doing for a living is making a difference. We can be honest about whether our contribution is valued in the company we work for, or if it is being replaced by the value of money.
We can ask ourselves if we really want to make a contribution in some other way. Or, we can research whether there are companies and institutions that will more readily support our desire to make a contribution.
We would not dismiss the need we humans have to make a contribution; to ease the suffering of others; to solve tough problems; to resolve issues; to make the world better so that when we leave it, it is better than when we entered it.
No matter what career stage you are in, beginner, old-timer, or somewhere in between, make sure that you keep alive within you your desire to make a contribution, to have a purpose beyond that of making money.
In a survey done a few years ago, people were asked about the top 20 job satisfiers. Money came in 16th!
We focus on getting money if we don't have enough, but once we do; our attention turns naturally to ways in which we can make a difference.
So, instead of waiting until you make your first million, decide beforehand what you are passionate about doing. What do you love?
What would you do even if you weren't paid to do it? What gives you joy?
THEN, from that expanded awareness, drawing on the best of yourself as a human being, launch your career so that you stay connected to your purpose.
If you do that, not only will the money follow, so will the additional wealth of happiness, contentment, and knowing you've made a contribution. You've lived your purpose.
About the Author
Anita Web Weaver is the owner of Design to Shine Consulting, offering coaching, mentoring and speaking services to help people shine, no matter what, in their career, their life and their health.
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