Truth Bomb Tuesday: Without this, everything is hard.
You have to make your own meaning.
Now this isn’t some generalised, stick it on a motivational poster type advice.
This is a productivity technique.
This is a way to achieve more in the world.
Let me give you an example. I once knew someone who had a good job. It was a great job actually.
It was creatively challenging. The hours were pretty flexible. When you broke down his hourly rate, it was awesome.
It was a great job,
… and he was miserable.
Now what was the advice that this man was getting from everyone around him?
People were telling him that maybe he just needed a better job – a job that was more creatively challenging or had better hours or paid more.
If he wasn’t happy in his job, then the job must be the problem.
But what if the job wasn’t the problem? What if he was the problem?
What if the job was actually awesome, and he just didn’t have the key to unlock the joy that it could offer him?
And what is the key?
Meaning.
That’s what this guy didn’t have. His job didn’t have meaning.
And I don’t mean meaning in this saving the planet or saving the Orangutangs or anything like that.
I mean he couldn’t see where his job fit in the overall picture of his life.
He didn’t understand his job’s purpose.
And what is the purpose of a job?
A job is how you got the resources you need so that you can [insert life mission here].
There’s no point working and racking up the money if you don’t know what it’s for.
(Hint: “just getting by” is not a valid reason.)
You have to understand how your day job and all the money resources that it creates fits into your broader life vision.
You have to give it this meaning. And only you can give it this meaning.
And that meaning will come when you know what your goals are – when you know where you want to be in five, ten and twenty years time.
Once you know how your job fits with your broader life vision, then you will know its meaning.
And once you know its meaning, then you will just be a lot happier about doing it.
Victor Frankl said that humans can endure just about anything if they know its meaning.
So if you’re not happy in your job, don’t automatically assume there is something wrong with your job.
I mean, there might be. It might suck. A lot of jobs do.
But the problem might actually be with you – it might actually be because that you haven’t figured out the meaning of your job – how it serves your vision.
Because if you don’t have that, then it just feels like you are slaving away for nothing.
And that’s why I say, before you do anything else, figure out what you’re about. Uncover what you really want. Define your goals. Get your peg in the sand.
Having clearly define goals energises every part of your life.
DB.