I crossed the podium, dutifully shook all the appropriate hands, and received my shiny new diploma. I had the corporate job all lined up, ready to get into the thick of it, and become a productive member of society. Poised to make a difference in my fulfilling new job. I was ready to face the world head on!
And yet, after a year in the workforce, I became quite… disillusioned. Why was I wasting my time completing this report that no one really looked at? Why was I working on this random, meaningless assignment that my boss just gave me to keep busy? Did I truly care about the company or its mission? Why was I here just pretending to look busy? Was I really bettering society, the environment, or … anything?
I became so despondent that every day I’d come in and literally ask myself – is this all there is? There has to be more to life than being stuck in a cubicle all day.
Impactful Work
It’s not that I didn’t want to work. I was actually a pretty hard worker. But, looking back, years removed, I think that those ‘signs’ were actually indicators of deeper, underlying issues and feelings. Really, it was the combination of working at a job that didn’t fulfill me and the lack of real substantive work. Maybe if I had work that I felt would make a difference, I would have been more content with my job at the time.
Don’t get me wrong, there are people out there that are actually making a difference. And there are people who are truly happy with their chosen profession and enjoy their work. Their job is their calling. They get energy just waking up and thinking about going to work in the morning. Whether it’s a career they just grew to love, or whether they knew all along they always wanted to, say, be a fire fighter as a kid. They followed through on their lifelong dream and are content with their career. I really am happy for those people. I wish everyone could be so lucky.
But, unfortunately, I believe those people are in the minority. A lot of people just get, well frankly, ‘stuck’ somewhere along the way. Some people, just never find their calling and wake up one morning to only ask themselves what the heck they’re doing with their lives. Twenty years go by and the grand goals of their younger years are just fantastical ideals leftover from their youth. Those great plans, bold ideas, and careers were tossed away for their now run-of-the-mill life.
I get it though, we have to make a living, a family to support, bills to pay, etc., we don’t always have the luxury of following our passion, we have to make money to live. But still, it makes me sad to think about what we’ve lost along the way.
Millennials
According to a recent poll: 30% of US workers are engaged at work. That means that a whopping 70% of people are disengaged (aka unhappy) with their jobs. That’s a vast majority of the employed workforce. I don’t have the stats by age groups, but I would bet a lot of the dissatisfied are under 45. There are a shit ton of people out there who don’t find pleasure in their jobs anymore.
I am a millennial and part of me hates to even admit that because, at this point, there is such a stigma associated with my cohort – we’re complainers, we don’t work hard enough, we’re lazy, we’re entitled, we constantly blame others, selfish, self-centered, snowflakes (whatever that means), blah, blah, blah. I’m not going to go into a whole diatribe on why we are or are not those things or the hardships we’ve faced that our boomer parents did not.
There’s a more fundamental problem going on. We’re disillusioned with the work prospects out there because my generation wants to be involved in careers that are making a difference. It doesn’t excite us to be just another cog in the corporate machine. I think way back in time ‘boomers’ thought the same things too. They just don’t remember because they’ve been so indoctrinated in the rat race for so long. They don’t remember what it was like to actually want to make a difference, instead of just accepting the status quo to “shut up and just do your part”.
Maybe it’s not that we’re actually lazy or narcissists, maybe it’s that deep down, we realize that a ‘good job’ actually doesn’t necessarily bring the fulfillment we need. Just maybe, the things that our parents said that would bring us joy and fulfillment, don’t actually bring us joy. Maybe the mental framework we were given by our parents left us under-equipped for the problems we have to face in today’s world.
But a lot has changed with our generation. We’ve become more self-reliant – we’re starting businesses and new ventures. We are using the internet in amazing new ways to connect the world and get our services, thoughts, and products out. We’re on the forefront of a new revolution. And you know what, we are entitled. Yes, I said it. Because I believe we (and everyone else) are entitled to do what we want to in life and not just accept average.
We are entitled to the freedom to choose what we want to pursue.
In general, we aren’t necessarily looking for a huge salary or just any old job. We are looking for fulfilling work, but we’re struggling to find our own way. There isn’t an instruction manual to how to live your best life. If you can find where your purpose and passion meet to do something of meaning, you will be fulfilled; you will most likely make a difference in the world no matter how small or large. The objective is to have a quality life without compromise; a life we don’t want to look back on with regrets.
The American Dream
The promise of the American dream – where one has a fulfilling job that pays well, a nice home for your family, and just enough leisure time to enjoy the fruits of your labor feels empty or unreachable to some. We were told that if we followed this set path in life, we would be fulfilled and boundless happiness would ensue.
Well, maybe those things don’t necessarily make everyone happy. Why do you think the divorce rate is so high and drug and alcohol use is off the charts? The sad part is society has automated this route towards a fulfilling life. We don’t know any different way; this is what we’re ‘supposed’ to do. People hardly have any opportunities to try and pursue other alternatives to find out what actually makes them happy because they are too fearful of failure, straying too far off the beaten path, or what their friends and family will think.
That’s why they call it the American Dream, you have to be asleep to believe it.
– George Carlin
If I told you “wow, knitting is the best thing in the world, I feel so amazing when I knit. You NEED to knit and your life will be complete.” Then you actually try knitting and maybe you can pick it up pretty quickly. And you get to be decent at knitting, but wonder what all the fuss is about. It’s actually pretty boring because it’s really so repetitive. NEWSFLASH: Different things bring different people contentment. We’ve listened to our parent’s generation, who’ve, in turn, listened to their parent’s generation, and so on. Maybe it’s time to question that advice and trek our own journey.
All I see right now, is a highly fractured society with a lot of issues that we will continue to propagate down to future generations if we don’t pivot drastically. The burden on millennials and the younger generations is not light.
Meaning of it All
The system is broken, we need to re-write the rule book if we plan to create a bright future. To do so, we will need a completely new framework to find real purpose in our chosen lines of work. When you feel there isn’t purpose in your work, you will not have the grit it takes to push forward when the going gets tough, the desire to never give up, or the spark of curiosity to take your work to the next level. We need to find work we’re passionate about, not a career we sleepwalk through.
We all want to make the world a better place. Maybe we all need a goal to shoot for, something that is greater than each of us. Something that makes a real, meaningful impact on improving the world. Instead of each of us looking aimlessly on our own for that purpose, let’s include everyone. Each one of us can have a hand in creating a better future for all. Let’s do something important; something that truly matters.
So, just maybe, we can all find meaning in life by doing something meaningful together.
Having a significant purpose will impassion a whole generation of people. It’s a future to inspire and aspire to. A future that brings a sense of awe and hope for all. That’s the future we should all be fighting for and the future I want to be a part of.
Recommended Reading
The struggles the author dealt with are unfathomable. It was very difficult to read and at points I had to put it down because it was too much to handle. But it shows us the power of hope and perseverance of the human spirit in the most horrific of conditions. Powerful, poignant and insightful – This should be required reading in schools.
Get your copy at Amazon today – Search for a Meaning
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