It's clear from plenty of studies, not to mention personal conversations, that we desire meaningful work... not just work. No meaning... and over time we're feeling ready to throw in the towel or rip the towel to pieces!
"I want to do something I actually care about! Something that matters!"
I know the person who said those words. He shares my social security number. : )
Meaningless workdays sucks the life right out of me! I'll bet it does for you too.
DESIRE FOR MEANINGFUL WORK RUNS DEEP
Like me, almost all Americans now say they want meaningful work above promotions, income and even job security. They want more than a paycheck... they want something that pays their bills AND fills their souls. Satisfies them not just satiates their need for money.
Is that selfish? Wrong?
I don't believe it is!
Now deceased American author Studs Turkel interviewed hundreds of people and came to this very conclusion:
Whether blue collar labor, white collar, or no collar, studies now show we tend to struggle when we consistently experience
Lack of Feedback (They want to know "How did I do?")
Lack of Autonomy (They want to have freedom to know "Can I do this?")
Lack of Challenge (They want to get better and be able to know "Can I go for it?")
Lack Completion (They don't want to be a cog in a long wheel, they want to know, "Can I finish what I started?")
It doesn't matter whether making a lot of money, or a little. Doing more hands on work, dirty jobs digging ditches or sitting in the owners suite. We all need these in our work ... at least if we want to thrive.
But, most studies fail to find one key modeled by God Himself. It's simple. Doable. But yet, rarely done.
THE MISSING MEANING KEY FOUND IN GENESIS 1
The MOST MISSED KEY TO BEING HAPPY and FINDING MEANING IN OUR WORK can be found in God's 2nd recorded act in the Bible. Specifically in the very 1st chapter of the book of Genesis... the 3rd and 4th verse.
Create light in darkness?
Make the world different?
Unleash spiritual worth to our work, not just economic growth.
Solve a problem that others had?
Help someone who needed what YOU UNIQUELY DO?
"But Jeff, I don't we have too much to do to connect and celebrate what difference our work made? I'm much too busy for that."
God didn't seem too busy. Why are we?
THEN "God saw that it was good" makes doing work meaningful and then leads into His next creative activity.
Meaningful work involves our intentional ability to actually connect and celebrate what's good in what we do to
help other people
serve the environment
solve real problems
bring more peace, prosperity or joy.
build God's work in the world.
When was the last time you (or you and your team) made a conscious choice to STOP your work and celebrate by asking.. "How did we do something good today? Who did we help?"
And if we didn't or can't make the connection - we may need to change what we're doing.
Most people would LOVE to work with companies and leaders who consciously do what God did - connect work to impact. Celebrate it.
PRACTICAL TOOL TO CREATE MORE MEANINGFUL DAYS
To help you do that and better plan to make a difference through your work - I created a tool I'd like to offer you as a gift. It's something I now use every single day and it MAKES A HUGE, HUGE difference in both focus and finding meaning.
It's a planner I now use to BOTH start my day and end my day by celebrating what worked. It's called THE REAL PROGRESS PLANNER. All on one simple page.
The goal is to help you make progress each day in doing the most meaningful things... and enjoy the ride!
DESIRE FOR MEANINGFUL WORK RUNS DEEP
Like me, almost all Americans now say they want meaningful work above promotions, income and even job security. They want more than a paycheck... they want something that pays their bills AND fills their souls. Satisfies them not just satiates their need for money.
Is that selfish? Wrong?
I don't believe it is!
Now deceased American author Studs Turkel interviewed hundreds of people and came to this very conclusion:
Whether blue collar labor, white collar, or no collar, studies now show we tend to struggle when we consistently experience
Lack of Feedback (They want to know "How did I do?")
Lack of Autonomy (They want to have freedom to know "Can I do this?")
Lack of Challenge (They want to get better and be able to know "Can I go for it?")
Lack Completion (They don't want to be a cog in a long wheel, they want to know, "Can I finish what I started?")
It doesn't matter whether making a lot of money, or a little. Doing more hands on work, dirty jobs digging ditches or sitting in the owners suite. We all need these in our work ... at least if we want to thrive.
But, most studies fail to find one key modeled by God Himself. It's simple. Doable. But yet, rarely done.
THE MISSING MEANING KEY FOUND IN GENESIS 1
The MOST MISSED KEY TO BEING HAPPY and FINDING MEANING IN OUR WORK can be found in God's 2nd recorded act in the Bible. Specifically in the very 1st chapter of the book of Genesis... the 3rd and 4th verse.
Create light in darkness?
Make the world different?
Unleash spiritual worth to our work, not just economic growth.
Solve a problem that others had?
Help someone who needed what YOU UNIQUELY DO?
"But Jeff, I don't we have too much to do to connect and celebrate what difference our work made? I'm much too busy for that."
God didn't seem too busy. Why are we?
THEN "God saw that it was good" makes doing work meaningful and then leads into His next creative activity.
Meaningful work involves our intentional ability to actually connect and celebrate what's good in what we do to
help other people
serve the environment
solve real problems
bring more peace, prosperity or joy.
build God's work in the world.
When was the last time you (or you and your team) made a conscious choice to STOP your work and celebrate by asking.. "How did we do something good today? Who did we help?"
And if we didn't or can't make the connection - we may need to change what we're doing.
Most people would LOVE to work with companies and leaders who consciously do what God did - connect work to impact. Celebrate it.
PRACTICAL TOOL TO CREATE MORE MEANINGFUL DAYS
To help you do that and better plan to make a difference through your work - I created a tool I'd like to offer you as a gift. It's something I now use every single day and it MAKES A HUGE, HUGE difference in both focus and finding meaning.
It's a planner I now use to BOTH start my day and end my day by celebrating what worked. It's called THE REAL PROGRESS PLANNER. All on one simple page.
The goal is to help you make progress each day in doing the most meaningful things... and enjoy the ride!
