The Purpose Behind Your Actions

Ask anyone that loves what they do why they enjoy their work.

Their answer will probably help you understand your own why. You’ll probably learn that they do their work because of a deeper purpose.

They enjoy the impact that they make on the world.

“The secret to a happy life is work worth doing.” - Justice Sandra Day O’Connor

So, why do you choose to do the work that you do each day?

Do you care about the results that you create in your career?

Do you care about the people you help?

Do you care about the people you work with?

Notice what word keeps popping up?

Care.

Most people are motivated by something they care about.

In contrast, when you stop caring you’ve lost your motivation to make a difference. You’ve lost the “why” in your work.

I’ve talked to countless clients that lost their passion for their career. They are tired all the time and feel stuck.

One client used to love her job so much that she stuck around just because of the memories. She realized this when we went through her core values and ranked them in order of importance. She saw she wasn’t living any of her top 8 core values at her job. She used to live many of her career value in the beginning of her career at her company, but that dwindled away over the past few years. When she came to this realization, she drafted her resignation letter that night.  She waited to submit it for 48 hours, and by then she already had a nest egg and a plan. She prepared to walk away from her job of X years.

She couldn’t stay any longer because she couldn’t answer her “why”. She enjoyed the money, but she wanted to believe in her work again. So she decided to cut the cord with her present job so she could do work that helped her connect back to her purpose.

Most people don’t need to quit their job (and I actually don’t often recommend it). Many times you can bring the passion back by focusing on how you want to feel at work.  Once you do that, the next step is answering the question:

Why do you do what you do?

Getting back to why you do the work that you do will help you bring back the passion.

Your energy will ebb and flow with each project. It’s important to take breaks to recharge your battery. Once your recharged then it’s just a matter of connecting with your why and getting your focus back on track.

This is actually a great exercise to do at the beginning of each year or beginning of every major project to help you bring energy to your actions.

It’s also a great exercise to help bring back energy into your career so you can begin adding skills. It’s these skills that will help you create more leverage in your present job or help you find a better career.

So, why do you do what you do?  Please feel free to share your answer in the Comment section below.

* You found this supplemental material from the Unlock Your Career Passions e-course. If you want access to the full course, go sign-up for updates and join our community and grow your career happiness.