How Important is it to Find "Meaning" in Your Work?
We had friends staying with us over the Easter weekend, and that-- as it inevitably seems to do-- led to some long "deep" conversations late at night.
Since we are all in various types of self-employment, we ended up spending quite a bit of time on the subject of work, and "making a living."
Without exception, each of the four adults present had chosen self-employment because they wanted to feel not only like their work was rewarding, but also enjoyable.
Back in the Old Days...
Pink waterlily
Back in our parents' days (everyone in our group is 40's and 50's), the whole idea of "enjoying your work" was not a big thing. Work was simply something you DID, and and perhaps something you were really good at, but the primary objective was getting paid, not having an enjoyable time.
Enjoying your work — and finding "meaning" in it — seems to be a somewhat newer idea. More specifically, choosing a line of work because it's enjoyable (rather than just a way to make a living) is a somewhat recent development.
In the case of our guests and ourselves, one of the other things we discovered was that we had chosen self-employment because we really didn't fit in well with the "Corporate Mainstream," when it comes to work.
We weren't really oriented towards what one might traditionally call "having careers;" instead we were looking to "make a difference."
Therein Lies the Rub...
Of course, one of the tricky things about the whole "enjoyment" and "meaning" issue is that often what we enjoy doesn't necessarily have much commercial viability.
Evening light on the bay
Artists, poets and most musicians and writers are a good example. We may love what we do, but "who's gonna PAY for that?" In many cases, the harsh reality is "nobody."
One of our friends who stayed here makes organic fair-trade soaps and body products. Her products are marvelous, but few people care to buy a bottle of hand made liquid soap for $10 when they can pick up the same amount of mass-produced soap at Wal-Mart for $1.39. And of course you can't even buy the "good" raw materials for $1.39.
Over the years, I have "changed directions" multiple times with my assorted eBay ventures. Things start out well enough, but the moment a few people discover that "money can be made," any given niche market is flooded with more competitors than the market can support.
Inevitably, our discussions ended up back at the same old tired point: Self-employment is difficult, and seldom profitable beyond basic sustainability. The "price" of getting to do something meaningful and enjoyable is often a lower standard of living... and yet we persist, because that meaning and enjoyment does matter.
How About You? It it important to you to to find "meaning" and enjoyment in what you do for work? Or are you purely working to get paid? Do you think people place too much importance on "having a good time" with their work? Is it better to just let work be work, and derive your "meaning" from free-time activities? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
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Everything you do should revolve around the lifestyle you want to live. Working for money doesn't cut it. To truly enjoy life, I've discovered you must incorporate your lifestyle into it.
Interesting that you bring this up; I have been considering writing a post about lifestyles and independence! What you say is, indeed, very true.
Many moons ago — when I went from working at "outside jobs" to working for myself — one of the exact processes I went through was "adapting my lifestyle so it could be supported by my work." In other words, not only did my work need to support my life, but I needed to create a life that could make the work I wanted to do possible. It is a two-way street.
I can understand what sometimes feels like a meaningless world people’s desire to search out and have meaning in the workplace. Companies that can create that produce excellent and well-engaged employees who are willing to put in the extra effort and time to want to make things better.
Finding meaning while I don’t think is a new thing is in my mind a luxury to have in the workplace. Some people just seem to take it too far where they think every single paper clip they make, and every document they print is both games changing and going to change mankind for the better!!!
I try and find meaning in at least hobbies that have some kind of financial reward. Beyond that meaning is simply just being able to make the bills and hope to have enough over for some disposable income.
I find myself not so desiring to have this big meaning in this. Just simply not feeling like my effort and time was completely wasted. Most times I’m perfectly happy in the middle ground. I just can’t stand my time being wasted. I also don’t expect my average work to have a very meaningful impact either.
I do think far too many people focus on needing to have that “good day” to be in the right mindset. People become so destructive to everything around them when things are not going 100% to their liking. If I have a “perfect” day as some of these people need to have. I would question my own sanity, if I was dreaming, or perhaps I had died. I’ll take the world not burning down and at least get a couple of things complete for that day to be good enough.
"Wasted time" has always been an issue for me, and one of the reasons I often earned the "impatient" label in corporate job situations I had. I don't want to spend endless hours talking about what needs to be done, I want to do what needs to be done.
"Well, then you're just not a very good team player!"
The problem with many "teams" (at least in work situations) often seems to be that progress moves at the speed of the least competent member of the team.
In some ways, I would be OK with having a somewhat dull job, as long as it was consistent and reliable and didn't put me in "harms" way of the typical "Oh you're good at this! You should be IN CHARGE!" I don't freakin' want to be in charge... just give me my daily paycheck, and let me get on with a more interesting life elsewhere.
And so, I chose the path of independence... where at least I mostly enjoy what I do.
I so hate the “you’re not a team player” aspect I swear certain types of manager use that on purpose to downplay the important of an outstanding member of the team. That usually for me means letting others take credit for things they never did but I ended up doing just to get things done. They then wonder why things never gone done when you are never around. Which than leads into the trap of never being promoted out of that position because you are now “so needed” or put into a management position that you never wanted.
Meaning, purpose, and interest in my work are things that I consider absolutely crucial.
Of course, supporting my family is simultaneously utterly crucial.
I thank God every day that (though not invariably, and not every time) the money usually follows the devotion, skill, and expertise.
There is a proverb that often comes to mind in this connection:
😄😇😄
Not wanting to deal with a "soul sucking" career is pretty much what made me leave relative cushiness at a Fortune 500 IT company.
Truth in disclosure: I really suck — badly — at doing ANYthing "just to make money." Status, financial gain, assets and all that stuff was never a strong motivator for me. I pursue(d) them to some degree for the purposes of security but nothing else.
My wife and I both thank God regularly for making it possible for us to scrape out a living on our own terms. Our own in-house affirmation/joke is that "there will always be enough gold coins." And, indeed, the Good Lord does seem to have a way of coming through for us in times of need.
It's good to hear that you've been successful in the ways that matter most. :D
I hope that will continue to be the case for us both. ;)
Surviving vs. well-being seems to be the shift. Economic variability and opportunities evolve after initial periods of hardship in a society, maybe?
Many people are still on surviving and money is a factor. Even for others money is still a factor. Paying $10 for soap isn't necessary despite it being better, so why spend that much? Quality of products matters less than how much we pay relative to other things we can pay for.
Spending is still very personal, since we aren't all loaded up with money to spend on more ethically produced things :/
For us, part of greater independence has revolved around being very cognizant of what truly matters to us, independently of the clutter of voices coming from the greater world. A lot of people live more by what they believe they "should" be doing than what they truly want to be doing... and they remain unaware that they actually have a choice.
We're all dependent on money to some degree. I have no issue with that... money is just a tool of exchange for me; it allows for an easy way to pay for the electricity and Internet and all that good stuff.
There are always philosophical and ethical bridges to cross. Take something simple like organic-locally grown food vs. factory-GMO-mass produced food. Lots of people want to be 100% organic, but simply can't afford it. I'm not sure how large differences are in Canada, but (for example) I can usually buy a dozen "regular" eggs for $1.29 on sale, but the organic cage-free ones run about $4.29 and are never on sale. What does it say about our world that making a healthy/ethical choice carries a 3-to-1 price premium?
I've been a stay at home mom for most of my adult life... and that doesn't pay well, financially, obviously. I am struggling to figure out what to do now that the kids are grown. As you say, creativity doesn't pay well. After spending 26 years at home my job prospects are low paying jobs that wouldn't cover much of anything, but I don't really have a lot of choices. Of course it also means that I don't have to make much at all with my creativity for it to make up for a 'regular' job that I could get. Therein lies the rub. My husband would prefer that I stay home and do what I love, even if it doesn't make much money... but I'm currently in a quandry over it. I would LOVE to make money doing something creative that I love and that I'm good at, I'm just not sure if I will find the right avenue before I am compelled to go get a 'normal' job to feel like I'm contributing financially.
Therein, indeed, lies the rub. I have been "formally" self-employed since the late 1990's and have had to re-invent what I do many times because it seems like the moment some "thing" actually becomes financially viable to do at home the world decides that it needs to go "mass market," at which point you end up no longer being able to make a living at it. Currently on my 7th rotation of going through that in 20 years.
Doing something creative for a living of any consequence is hard. I've been "doing eBay" for almost 20 years, and that has been the most consistent. WHAT you can actually make and sell of course varies.
That is so true. I've done small things here and there, but I know that I'm at least good at doing without and living on a very small income, even when we had 5 kids at home... so we're lucky in that I don't HAVE TO go work in order to make it, but it would be nice to have extra.
My mom has been a self employed artist for decades and paints on motorcycles. She makes good money, but is getting tired of all the travel. She just wants to stay home. Sadly, she was really REALLY bad at getting herself into debt, and not saving anything, so she has no choice now.
I'm trying to make good choices and find my "thing"... I have given myself a bit of a deadline to get to a point of making something $$$ wise consistently or I'll go get a job.
Some great points raised here. I'm a self employed videographer of over 10 years and still loving it - I couldn't imagine doing anything else as a job (and have refused 9-5 video jobs so far!)
I support a family of three others, so as much as the pressure is there to financially provide, I still treat the idea of flexibility/family time/my own boss as being equally important.
I do believe its important to find meaning in your work; and in this sense I define meaning as being simply doing something you are really good at.
Nice article, got me thinking :)
Cool that you've been able to do that for 10 years! I bet you've seen a lot of changes in that field — these days, pretty much everyone with a smartphone fancies themselves a "movie maker."
The pressure "to provide" is probably my least favorite aspect of self-employment, but I guess we just do what we have to do.
If money was my goal in life, I would be the most unhappiest person on this planet. My purpose would be to do something meaningful and contribute to society and it has to be something positive. Receiving kindness from people is probably the best source of contentment or happiness a person can receive.
A agree entirely with you on that. I never was particularly motivated by money... but I feel "forced" to interface with it because it's needed to keep the electricity turned on and a roof over our heads. Wish it weren't, but it is.
I have been self employed for de dead and it is far more difficult than working for a corporate structure (Which I have done as well). The difficult part about enjoying your chosen path is always the family. Singles can develop what they enjoy and enjoy it far easier as they do not need to support others. But the security of being able to make money on ones own is a vital point these days. Being laid if from a 20 or 30 year position can be devastating... especially for the dependent types.
Yeah, I know what you mean-- I have been independent for a long time, as well. Sometimes it feels like "the system" is actually set up to oppose independence. Providing a regular income when you have a family is important... and that has been difficult for us. Now we're getting to be in our 50's and have relatively little security. Still, would I trade in my choices for a different path? Probably not...
I can pretty much say have enjoyed all my various money related endeavors.
Meaning in my work? - Not one bit.
....strictly speaking, taking money from steemit would mean this is the most rewarding income I have ever done..
If I could make a living from writing - that would be perfect for me.
I was something I had never dreamed of, tbh.
(if only I could write well. lol)
I definitely never enjoyed working for other people or companies... a large part of why I ended up going it on my own. I have enjoyed most of my self-employment gigs, but not so much that I have had to reinvent myself every 2-3 years... there seems to be a sort of "lifecycle" in many areas that if you actually manage to scrape out a living, other people think you're "doing well" and enter the market, after which everyone gets a smaller slice of the pie.
That's just the nature of the beast, I think.
I wish I could just write full-time, too... and work on creative projects with my wife. But art's a tough sell, and so is writing. Steemit is actually the only consistent income I have had from writing.
Writing and war gaming, woohoo!
I have come up with a little bit of a 'breakthrough', actually, with wargaming rules.
I'm still working through it - it will take some time - but it could be 'potentially' a radical change to the whole hobby...
If it all works out - which is it doing so far - that will be writing and war gaming!
I would love to say it was through years of study and applied effort. It wasn't. (in the slightest)
https://steemit.com/blog/@lucylin/a-eureka-moment-when-the-lights-went-out
"Game changers" have a way of showing up unexpectedly and suddenly. Looks like you "have" something, based on a quick read of your post... even if it WILL take time to develop. But it will be totally worthwhile... few things beat "playing with our hobbies for a living." Like I did with beach combing, for a while.
No, not years of study and applied effort. But years of random observations and remembering things... you then assemble into a new way of looking at the same picture, a way nobody else has happened to think of.
This is very interesting timing - and I'm not sure how much of an influence your thread had on it..(impossible to quantify these things)...but
I am writing my book, and putting some parts of it, (well lot's) on steemit as I go along - and then doing an online book thingy ( I have no idea what I'm doing as yet, in all honesty - but I'm doing it anyway...)
Staying in the 'real world' side of things - political /philosophical/economic discussions, while interesting, and I likeposting on such things - is just not conducive to the creative side of me.
But I have found the answer ... seriously...honest...lol
yesterday musings...
https://steemit.com/blog/@lucylin/a-change-of-direction-something-something-writing
...this seems to be the trick for me...
I posted my first part of it today...
And this more than free's up my time to pursue the war gaming rules side at the same time..
I have decided to change my focus..
I'll post almost everyday (my story), and include links to the previous parts...
https://steemit.com/blog/@lucylin/i-haven-t-got-a-title-snippets-part-1
Just going to answer quickly here, while this is fresh in my mind:
Did you ever follow/read @ericvancewalton? He was one of the first people to serialize a book on Steemit, and he did extremely well for himself.
Just my quick observation... just like I have recently been taking a look at some of my old blogs and giving them a fresh coat of paint, I think perhaps what happens is that we need a few months (in my case, a little over a year!) to simply "sort out" what we want our direction to be. As I write this, I have added somewhere on the north side of 600 "essays" to Steemit, and I am just NOW finding the "voice" I used to have.
So, I'm guessing you found your direction. Or something that at least feels like your direction.
While I do like the work I am doing, I work to life and do not life to work.
Have been thinking many time of becoming a freelancers but never took the jump. I am just not enough entrepreneur for this! I do choose the financial stability for the household above more freedom, knowing that in these days no job is forever!
Some of my friends joke that I seem to be willing to "work extremely hard so I don't have to have a real job." I do understand the underlying meaning there... I'd rather entrepreneur my way to something than have to go sit in a cube farm at a soul-sucking company somewhere. Mind you, my corporate experiences were all pretty negative.
I really cannot complain. Probably could have earn a lot more money as a freelaner but I guess I do like the safety net of a big company. Really would like to become some kind of tech advisor/ consultant. Really have to start my RPA course!
I do guess that the biggest example of being part of a cube farm is that when I do stop my working day, my working day is over! I have been working for the same client more than 11 years now. So I do have some freedom, guess I earned this!