How to Make Work Meaningful

The reason being inspired is close to my heart is because I know what it is like when it is hard to be. One such experience comes from my early career when I had a job as a computer programmer. While this may be a noble profession, for a number of reasons, much to do with my boss, I hated the job. Monday morning blues were a weekly event. So I did what many people would do - I changed my job.

I got a new boss, different colleagues and a smarter desk. Yet despite the change I was still not inspired. One morning driving to work I got caught in a bad traffic jam. When I realised I was going to be late, I began to get stressed. Then suddenly the pointlessness of it all overwhelmed me - I was getting stressed because I could not get somewhere I did not want to go! I cut out of the jam, pulled over and sat at the wheel in a sort of daze for a couple of hours. It was only when I had reached a resolution in my own mind that I was ready to drive on.

The resolution was to learn to fly - pilot an aeroplane. There was an airfield near the office and I had already spent some lunchtimes watching the take-offs and landings. Now I was going to enroll, and the point of working - the meaning - was to fund my flying. When I went back to work, things looked the same but everything was different - I was inspired!

Recently I finally got to see the film 'Million Dollar Baby'. Maggie is determined to become a boxing champion, a long held ambition. This gives her the sense of meaning that keeps her inspired in her work, both the lowly waitressing and the boxing training.

There are more extreme forms of adversity which people meet with a sense of meaning. Prisoners of war have related that it was the decision to survive, to tell their story, that gave them the meaning to hold onto life itself. Vague optimism is not enough but a clear reason to survive is essential.

Each us has a choice for the meaning we give ourselves for our work. When this meaning is inspiring, we can bring that inspiration into the workplace. It doesn't fix all the problems but it allows us to see them differently. Being inspired also puts us in a more resourceful state of mind to tackle the problems if we decide to do so.

A sense of meaning is a personal thing, some people prefer to use the term personal vision. Either way, a good starting point is to ask yourself: What is really important to me? Spend some time reflecting on this - make a note of your answers - these are some of your true values. Your personal vision will be related to them in some way. You could also put your vision in writing, or pictures.

There is an old story about a traveller who comes across a building site where three masons are busy. He asks the first what he is doing. "I'm shaping these stones" he says. The traveller asks the second mason the same question. "I'm building a massive wall" he replies. Then the traveller asks the third mason who pauses and looks upwards. A smile spreads across his face and he says "I'm building a cathedral".