How to Find Fulfilling Work

About the book: If you feel trapped in your job or long for more fulfilling work, you're not alone. How to Find Fulfilling Work explores the core components of what makes work meaningful and full of purpose, detailing exactly which steps you need to take to find work that brings out the best in you and keeps you truly happy.

About the author: The Observer named author Roman Krznaric one of Britain's leading popular philosophers. He teaches at The School of Life, of which he's a founding member, and is a counselor to organizations such as Oxfam and the United Nations. His other works include Empathy and The Wonder Box.

My highlights:
We're dissatisfied when our expectations about work aren't met. The dissatisfaction we feel at work often stems from the fact that our expectations are higher than ever before.
Either lower your expectations (supporters of this approach say that work has always been tedious and never a joy, and that therefore we should lower our expectations and look for fulfillment outside of work) or you can join those who think finding fulfilling work is possible, if perhaps challenging.The latter approach encourages you to pursue your dreams, instead of regretting that you never tried to free yourself from the shackles of your unfulfilling job.
In today's world, there is an overwhelming number of job choices. we're haunted by the possibility that our choice was the wrong one.
We're haunted by the possibility that our choice was the wrong one.
We're haunted by the possibility that our choice was the wrong one.
It's not easy to leave the career path we're already on – but if it isn't fulfilling, make a change! we feel bound by our educational past.
If you want to make a career change, you have to change your mindset and overcome this psychological hurdle. Think of it as a decision between two types of regret: you'll either regret that you abandoned the career you invested so much time and energy in, or you'll regret that you never had the guts to quit and set out in pursuit of a more fulfilling future.Perhaps this will help you choose: psychological research has shown that the regret of not taking action on things that are really important to you is one of the most corrosive emotions you can experience.
Money and status aren't as fulfilling as we think. there is no clear relationship between happiness and monetary wealth. While evidence shows that money contributes to your well-being up to a certain point – the meeting of your basic needs – it gives but little satisfaction once you earn beyond this point. This is due to a psychological mechanism called the “hedonic treadmill”
Making a difference gives you a sense of meaning, though it's not easy to combine with enterprise. There are different core elements that make up fulfilling work. One of these elements is the sense that your work has meaning. That is, your work imparts a feeling of contributing to the world in a positive way.
Following your passions and finding your flow experiences will make you happy. to find out what you're passionate about, set aside some time to mull over what gives you a flow experience.Flow is a state of total focus and concentration where you're so absorbed in your activity that you forget about everything else. Engaging in what you love is usually accompanied by this feeling.
The flow experience is crucial to happiness in life and work because it gives us a gratifying sense of being able to fully access our potential.
Observe yourself and your flow experiences by keeping a flow diary.
If you want fulfilling work, you should seek freedom. A core element proven to be part of job satisfaction is to have a “span of autonomy,” that is, some time where you're at liberty to make your own decisions. The more freedom you experience, the happier you'll be.
Find freedom outside the office by working less.
To find fulfilling work, you should abandon meticulous planning and test it out. A far more effective approach is adopting the mantra “act first, and reflect later” – meaning it's better to try out several jobs than to fritter away the hours in search of the perfect position in print or online. Recent research has shown that substantial change is best seen by “experiential learning.”
A less radical approach is the “temporary assignment.”
Take your time: vocation can't be found overnight – it slowly grows within you. vocation is something that gives purpose to your work in its entirety. It's a broader goal that you are pursuing, the thing that gets you out of bed every day.
The perfect vocation; instead, it germinates within you, slowly growing as your sustained work nurtures it.
It really does pay, then, not to demand that your vocation be revealed to you immediately. Instead, allow it to form through your experience.
Final summary good pay and social status are no longer good enough. We want our work to be purposeful, meaningful and rich with freedom and flow. In order to find exactly that, we must abort meticulous planning, try things out, take some risks and learn from our experiences.