Is It Possible to Feel Dissatisfied at Work and Still Feel Fulfilled in Life?

Is It Possible to Feel Dissatisfied at Work and Still Feel Fulfilled in Life?

What percentage of people do you think are unfulfilled at work but fulfilled in life? For people who work full time, take a guess. 50%, 25%, 10%?

 

This has been a fundamental question about work. For many people, work is simply about earning a paycheck: “a job is a job,” or “pega es pega,” as we say in Chile. We can find fulfillment in other areas of our lives, such as family, community, hobbies, or sports, among others.

 

Well, the truth is, not so much…

 

The 2019 Workforce Purpose Index (Imperative, 2019) sought to understand the role of fulfillment at work and its connection to fulfillment in our lives overall.

 

The Reality Is Discouraging

 

It turns out that only 1% of full-time workers who feel unfulfilled at work manage to feel fulfilled in life. This means that, statistically, if you work full time, finding fulfillment outside of work is not enough.

 

What are the implications?

 

According to a recent article in The New York Times, “having a Purpose is linked to a number of positive health outcomes, including better sleep, fewer strokes and heart attacks, and a lower risk of dementia, disability, and premature death.”

 

A study conducted by Imperative together with New York University (NYU) in 2015 found that 66% of the workforce does not feel fulfilled at work. That makes the lack of meaning at work a health epidemic. Work is taking its toll on us.

 

The good news is that 74% of people see fulfillment at work as possible. It was also found that people see their fulfillment as primarily their own responsibility, with only 12% disagreeing with this statement. This means the solution to the epidemic of meaninglessness lies in empowering people to find fulfillment in their work. Culture and managers matter, but people must also take responsibility for their own fulfillment. (Imperative)

 

Promising Solutions

 

Become Aware of What Fulfills You at Work

 

People who feel fulfilled are significantly more likely to be self-aware about what fulfills them and to seek support from their peers. When people are aware of what brings them fulfillment, they are much more likely to experience fulfillment at work, especially compared with those who are not.

 

This suggests that investing in helping people understand their Purpose is essential to achieving fulfillment.

 

Another Solution: Peer Coaching

 

Teams and colleagues with peer coaching relationships are nearly twice as likely to feel fulfilled compared with colleagues who don’t engage in these transformative conversations (2019 Workforce Purpose Index, Imperative). This is due to the kind of relationship that develops when you “become the coach” of your coworker, and vice versa.

 

Workers who take part in peer coaching have more clarity, report better performance, build meaningful connections with colleagues, experience growth, have a growth mindset, feel psychologically safe, and are more likely to stay with the company longer (2019 Workforce Purpose Index, Imperative).

 

The proposed solutions, from self-awareness to peer coaching, offer promising paths to transform our work experience and, therefore, our lives. This call to action rests not only with companies and leaders, but also with every individual seeking a meaningful life.

 

You can read the original article in English here