Meaning vs. our calling
- Philip Brophy
- Mar 27
- 3 min read
Reassessing our needs • 3 min read
Increasing your focus on your clients can help you find more meaning in your work. A study revealed that fundraisers in a university call centre who’d been introduced to the students they were raising for money for, spent 142% more time on the phone with the potential donors. They raised 171% more cash than peers who hadn’t met those scholarship recipients.
Introduction
Research shows that finding meaning in our work is one of the most overlooked and powerful ways to boost engagement and productivity.
What many of us fail to realise is that work can be meaningful even if it’s not necessarily our “calling”.
Our calling
In the U.S., people most commonly work in retail, the hospitality industry, or in office assistant roles. Society can often dismiss these roles as lacking in “meaning”.
However, what links them to professions such as teaching or medicine, is that they all work in roles to help others.
Not everyone finds their one true “calling”. But that doesn’t mean our jobs have to be seen as meaningless. If we reframe our tasks or our company goals as opportunities to help others, any occupation can feel more significant.
You can do this by:
Aligning your values to priorities
What motivates you most in your work and how can you put this to the forefront of your work? If self-development is one of your core values, focus on daily rituals such as listening to podcasts or taking a course.
Focusing on relationships, not just deliverables
Contributing to others’ well-being is strongly tied to experiencing meaning. In the spirit of helping others, you can try assisting, or mentoring people to identify what types of activities lead them to authentic self-expression and meaning. Think about how your present efforts can contribute positively to their future.
Getting what we need over what we want
While happiness is correlated with having your desires satisfied, meaning is not. For example, we spoke previously about Alex who chose the people-focused job over the CEO title. While he enjoyed the prospect of prestige, his need to do something that “mattered”, ultimately overrode this want.
Readjusting our time frames
Meaning comes from looking at the past, present, and future as a coherent story. Try looking past the endorphin hit of the momentary gains to seek something that reflects bigger-picture and longer-term values.
Key takeaways
To find meaning in our roles, we can reframe our tasks as opportunities to help others.
Try to align your values/actions when choosing what to prioritise, e.g., if self-development is important to you, or mentoring others, focus on daily rituals such as listening to podcasts or lending an ear to colleagues.
The frequency of good and bad feelings is irrelevant to meaning. Try focusing on getting what you need over what you want to find longer term meaning in your work.
Think big, act small
Whether it’s readjusting your time frame and looking at your bigger picture, or mentoring others to find their own sense of authentic self-expression, try to find how you can best approach a working process that brings meaning to your work.
Next time, we’ll look at an example of someone whose global tennis career involved overcoming adversity and reframing narratives to make a spectacular comeback within the industry.
Content sources
Forbes, 2020, Hannah Hart, Being Productive is Not Enough – How to Prioritise Your Highest Value
Mark Manson, 2016, ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck’
Harvard Business Review, 2019, Susan Peppercorn, ‘Why You Should Stop Trying to be Happy at Work’
Harvard Business Review, 2019, Rebecca Knight, ‘How to Manage Your Perfectionism’
Harvard Business Review, 2017, Emily Esfahani Smith, ‘How to Find Meaning in a Job That Isn’t Your “True Calling”’
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