Let me start my noting that I don’t mean that meaning and purpose must be something lofty like working in a hospice. Pretty much all helping professions be it health care, education, social services qualify.  But so do various endeavors: building a business that serves others in some capacity or being part of a business where your work tangibly leads to making the lives of others better/easier/more efficient/more convenient can also be meaningful.

But many jobs fail even this expansive definition.  “I’m not exactly sure what good I’m doing.”  That’s one of the most common phrases I hear from clients who face this problem. The biggest challenge for those in this situation is that there is not a lot that one can do to make the job better.  More money does not address purposeless.  Nor does flexible work options or even a better boss.   Those band-aides will work in the short term. But the gnawing feeling that life is slipping away without my doing anything meaningful stays.

If I had to choose a favorite of my 3 books, this is the one, perhaps because it is the most authentic.  But also because I know that it speaks to the heart of Career Counseling Connecticut’s mission: help clients find HAPPY (which includes meaningful) and successful work.