Work Life Well-Lived summary

The first step is to look at your motives. In other words, your needs – all the emotional, social, and psychological needs that affect your well-being.

From her research, Mackin discovered just how important these needs, or motives, really are. It’s essential that they’re met in order for us to feel happy and healthy at work. Mackin and her team identified 28 distinct motives that make up well-being in our work lives. They include achievement, purpose, prestige, growth, variety, flexibility, and peer connection.

Awareness is so important. And yet most of the time, many of us are just sleepwalking through life. We’re on autopilot.

This is something that Mackin only fully realized when she began studying mindfulness. She also discovered what a difference a mindful approach can make to all areas of life, especially our work lives. 

Next, let’s look at step three – evaluating your work life motives. To get where you want to go, you need to have a really clear picture of where you are right now. You need data. That’s why Mackin recommends measuring your motives, and giving each one a number. 

Start with your top five motives. Write them down again, and then, considering your work life now, give each one a score on a four-point scale. Let’s say one of your motives is “flexibility.” Is that motive a one (drowning), a four (thriving), or something in-between?

Step four of the framework is all about communication. Now, it’s time to talk about your motives – to have conversations with yourself and others.

There’s a story behind your motives. Just think of all the experiences you’ve had in your work life – everything that’s influenced you, leading to your current situation, and your hopes for the future.

Step five. It’s time to take action, and meet your motives. If that feels overwhelming, remember – you only need to focus on the things within your control. Our brains have a tendency to try to focus on everything, but if it’s not within your control, forget about it. Stay focused on changes that you can make.

And to make those changes, start small – with small, simple steps. You can take the first one now, if you like, by coming up with an action plan.