Seeking a sense of fulfilment in your work

Since work occupies a huge part of our lives, we would naturally seek fulfilment at work as much as how we seek fulfilment in life. Most people may find it hard to understand what fulfilment really is, even though we may know it when we experience it (or the lack of it). Broadly speaking, it is the feeling we have when we are aligned with our natural motivations and we meet our needs and gain a sense of purpose. Just by that statement alone, we know fulfilment can be understood in different parts, which is what makes it complex. Research has shown that it encompasses 3 aspects:

need for belonging and connection with others,
need to do things that are meaningful and impactful, and
need for personal growth and overcoming challenges.

Every person may have different needs for each aspect and hence it may be difficult for managers to fulfil your needs without an accurate understanding. How you can help yourself meet these needs is to first discover yourself and then convey these needs to your manager.

To discover your own needs and motivations, here are points you can reflect upon:

Do I need to feel like I belong and connect with others at work, and to what extent? Do I need to feel like I am doing something meaningful and impactful at work, and how important is that to me? How much personal growth do I need at this current stage of my career?
What type of impact do you want to have at the workplace? What does meaningful work look like to you? How important is it for your work to be meaningful and impactful?
Which aspect of my work so far has been the most meaningful or challenging? How do I want to see myself growing in the next 1 year or so?

Identify your top needs and motivations (i.e., meaningful relationships, meaningful work or challenge & growth), using the reflection points mentioned above. It might seem like it takes a lot to achieve job fulfilment, however, starting small and working towards these areas one at a time helps make job fulfilment more achievable! Depending on your needs, you may want to choose one area of your work life to enhance your job fulfilment:
1. Meaningful relationships: Find time to speak to different people in your organisation (e.g., over coffee, physically or virtually) and from there you may build more relationships with others
2. Meaningful work: Take note whenever a new idea or project is mentioned that excites you and gets your attention, and you can ask to be involved (even in the smallest way) in those projects
3. Challenge & Growth: Look out for things you have not done before and ask to be a part of it to learn something new

Seeking a sense of fulfilment in your work

One of the most critical steps to having a sense of fulfilment at work is gaining self awareness - knowing what fulfilment means to you.

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