How to Find Fulfillment in Your Current Job

I’m a big advocate for following your joy and creating a life that you absolutely love, but oftentimes people are stuck in a limbo where they have a good life but it’s not exactly what they want. Or perhaps what they thought they wanted is not actually what it’s all cracked up to be. This could be a relationship, hobby, and most often in a job or career. And sometimes you have to stick in the job for some time before you can make a strategic move forward. However, you can change how your job impacts you by changing your relationship to the work that you do. After all, life is about relationships.

Many studies have shown that majority of people do not follow the same career that they went to post-secondary school for. In fact, many people stumble upon their current job or career. And depending on how you view careers, it might simply be a means to an end of accumulating monetary wealth so that you can enjoy other things in life.

So, if you’re working in a career that isn’t as fulfilling as you’d like it to be, I’d challenge you to find the good fruits within the company, what problems the company solves, and what your role is in accomplishing this.

For example, I worked for a few years as a lingerie sales associate. It was a stepping stone job that was going to tie me over until I got into the line of work I actually wanted to do. The pay was shitty, my coworkers were kind, the hours were decent, but it was far from being my “dream job”. However, I was very fulfilled in this job.

Why was I fulfilled?

I saw the bigger picture of what I was doing. Did I love the act of measuring women’s chests? Not really, especially not when it was a hot summer’s day and someone forgot to wear deodorant. But by doing my job correctly, I was able to see women that were once uncomfortable in their own skin and dreading the task of finding a new bra leave the store strutting out with a newfound confidence. I even had many women come back looking to work with me because they knew I’d fit them for the right style and size of bra. I even had a lady throw her old bra in the trash and wear the new one out the store after she purchased it. I can guarantee if you ask any woman in your life if she’s ever worn an ill-fitted bra she would tell you the horrors of it – shoulder and back pain, gapping in the front so shirts don’t fit right, the girls hanging too low or being pushed up into your chin, and bulges in the back that ruin any outfit and your confidence levels.

My mission was to help women feel confident in their skin so they could show up in their lives more empowered, which ultimately made them more able to serve their families, careers, and communities. And fitting a woman for the right sized bra was one of the ways I could do that.

Whenever I feel stuck in a job, or I have a daunting task coming up that I don’t want to deal with, I remember the bigger picture of what I’m accomplishing. It always grounds me and brings me back to centre. Even in my dream career that I have today, there are many tasks that I could happily live without, but the fruits of completing those tasks brings fulfillment.  

So, if you’re stuck feeling unfulfilled in your career, even if it’s your dream job, I challenge you to ask questions like:

-       What is this company’s mission / what problems is this company solve?

-       What is my personal mission statement? How do I want to serve the world?

-       Does my company’s mission align with mine?

o   If not, what kind of career can I do that aligns with my mission?

-       How can I improve my current role/duties to serve better?

o   This one often can lead to promotions or raises should you want one. With more purpose/responsibility comes more power (& money).

These questions should give you some sort of clarity on whether or not your career is right for you. If you’re not in the right line of work, it might be time for a change. But even if it’s a boring, non-aligned job you’re in, you should still be able to find good fruits that you can have gratitude for. That gratitude will change your relationship with your career and bring greater fulfillment and joy!

To leave this blog post, I give you the holy task of writing out your personal mission statement, and your mission statement with regards to how you serve the world in your current role.

Does it change how you feel about what you do?

With love,

Steph