When you are looking for fulfillment in your job: 5 areas that matter
I recently attempted to clean out my digital files and noticed how much I have buried in sub-sub-sub folders. I am pretty good at organizing closets, desks, paper files (I still have some), pantries, shelves, and that odd kitchen drawer with batteries, pens, lost screws, and random pieces of plastic that used to go in something.
I think my second career needs to be as a professional organizer. I am not as extreme as Monica Geller from Friends as I don't own a label maker, and I am not obsessed with cleaning, but I like things to have order, purpose, and look neatly arranged. I'm not too fond of clutter and don't hold onto things longer than I have use for them. However, I tend to neglect my digital shelves and cabinets.
I have accumulated quite a few files over 20 years of work experience. I keep upping my iCloud storage to keep them all. Still, I recently realized that I need to purge files just as I do with clothes, shoes, and handbags every year (to make room for new clothes, shoes, and handbags, of course! I mean, Marshall's has too many cute things to not go on a shopping spree occasionally.). I just have too many white papers from 2010 on the Future of Work still lingering that I am paying to store.
The benefit of being a digital packrat is you run across things you journaled and wrote years ago. It has been entertaining to read some of my early musings. I have old blogs I wrote on WordPress about 12-14 years ago. Some thoughts still hold up, while others I should be archived as my thinking has evolved with more time and experience.
I have started to think more about purpose, impact, and feeling fulfilled. Every five years or so, I do some self-discovery and think about my life and what I focus my time, attention, and talents on. The concept of fulfillment often comes up in this self-discovery. Am I doing what makes me happy? Do I feel productive, valued, impactful, content, and at peace?
"Happy" is actually a very complicated, subjective concept as it isn't just one thing or aspect of our life that leads to happiness. Happiness results from many things that matter to us, which include our job but shouldn't center around our job.
I stumbled across a jigsaw puzzle visual I created in early 2011 that focused on fulfillment. Now, at that time of my life, I was in a miserable relationship with my then fiance. I wrote a lot during these years to help me find myself and identify a clear path through a tough time.
It doesn't matter what season of your life you are in or what life event you are in the middle of. Fulfillment is a feeling we need and, sometimes, it can feel elusive even to the most successful humans. Fulfillment is actually a lot like happiness; it may not be easy to name what fulfills you, but you know it when you feel it.
In 2011, I hypothesized that fulfillment comprised five main areas: Civility, Trust, Safety, Connection, and Impact. 2011 looks a lot different from 2022 for me and many of you, I suspect, but these five areas still ring true for me in the workplace (and in life). This was indeed one essay that still holds up 12 years later and I will share with you my thoughts over the coming weeks.
Since 2011, much has been published on creating psychological safety, staying connected with a distributed workforce, building trust in a hybrid world, discovering your purpose, and getting back to the basics of showing kindness and empathy.
Now, I was not ahead of the curve 12 years ago because these five areas I identified have always been core to our human needs and were starting to be challenged in the workplace through lousy management, unclear visions, consolidation of companies, and a recovery from turbulent economic times (2008-2009).
I believe these five areas must be satisfied in order for us to feel fulfilled in our jobs. There can also be more, but these are at the center of what we need as humans. I described the five areas using the below keywords, which include three positives and a negative:
Civility: Respect, Appreciation, Consideration, No Drama
Trust: Autonomy, Confidence, Flexibility, No Micromanagement
Safety: Support, Comfort, Care, No Fear
Connection: Relationships, Teamwork, Collaboration, No Islands
Impact: Contribution, Influence, Results, No Benchwarming
If you are feeling a little dissatisfied, your cup is a tad empty, or you lack motivation, a sense of purpose, or a direction, think about these five areas and identify if one or more are coming up short for you. We need everything in balance to achieve a sense of fulfillment.
I will spend the next five weeks working through each one of these areas and why they matter to us, and our sense of fulfillment. So, if you're unsure what might not be clicking for you lately, keep reading for the next few weeks, and you might discover some answers.