Bored to Tears? How to Find More Meaning in Your Career

find meaning in your careerDo you remember a time when you used to wake up feeling motivated for the workday?   Did you ever have the feeling of ultimate satisfaction when you ended your workday?   Do you recall having something that you felt so passionate about that even though it required a lot of hard work and effort, it didn’t bother you one bit?  Or if you haven’t experienced these feelings, maybe you know someone that does and you secretly envy their happiness and fulfillment.

No one wants to live their life simply going through the motions, from point A to point B, constantly thinking about when the workday will finally end.  But unfortunately, this is exactly the case for so many people.  Luckily, there are plenty of things that you can do to find more meaning in your career, and some of them are so simple:

1)  Consider a career change

Maybe your job is convenient and pays the bills, but the company’s mission holds no meaning to you so you find no excitement out of it, and therefore aren’t as motivated.  Maybe you are under challenged and your talents are being utilized as well as they could be.  Start looking inward to discover what inspires you and holds meaning to you and start looking into career paths that relate to that.

2)   Seek out guidance from an expert

Maybe you want to find more meaning in your career and your life, but have no idea what steps to take to change that, or where to even begin.  It may help to reach out to any mentors you have had throughout your career or education, whether it’s a former boss, co-worker, professor, or friend or family member.  These people can use their own life experience, as well as what they know about you as a person, to help you see things a little more clearly.  Or, if you have the money you could probably benefit from hiring a career coach.  They will work with you to analyze different aspects of your life and yourself, what motivates you and what your priorities are, to find a career that will hold meaning to you.

3)  Find meaning in the career you already have

Sometimes changing careers isn’t the answer, it’s only your perspective that needs a little shifting to help you find meaning in your career.  Think about any other projects you could take on at work that you would find exciting.  While there may be some mundane or aggravating parts of your job (as is there usually is in every job), try to focus more on the parts of your workday that do have meaning to you.  Also, if you can start establishing friendships with more co-workers at your current job, you will be amazed how much happier you feel about going to work.

4)  Put yourself out there more

It’s easy to fall into the rut of the same old routine and talking to the same couple of people day in and day out.  Not interacting with enough people or experiencing enough new things can stunt your personal and professional growth and make it harder for you to progress at a natural pace to the next step in your life and career.  So find some organizations to volunteer for that hold meaning to you, and are related to the industry you want to pursue a career in.  Go to networking and industry events in your area.  A very easy way to find groups of people that hold the same interests as you is Meetup.com.

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Jessica Cody

Jessica Cody, a native of Fairfield County, Connecticut, has a background in online marketing and public relations. She is a graduate of the University of Connecticut, where she studied Journalism and Political Science. She is also an avid runner with a passion for the outdoors.

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