How to Find Fulfilling Work Book Summary - How to Find Fulfilling Work Book explained in key points

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How to Find Fulfilling Work summary

Name: How to Find Fulfilling Work
Rating: 4.2 (80 reviews)
Author: Roman Krznaric

Roman Krznaric

The School of Life

4.2 (80 ratings)

23 mins

Topics

Job Hunt

Table of Contents

How to Find Fulfilling Work
Summary of 11 key ideas

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What’s in it for me? Learn about one of today's biggest challenges: finding fulfilling work.

Maybe you’re already familiar with this scenario. You’ve (finally) finished college; you’ve been waiting forever to get this far. All you want is to start working, earn money, and enjoy some of that free time stolen by late hours of study – time you plan to put toward pursuing your beloved hobbies.

But then what happens? Day after day you get stuck at work; you feel unimportant and bored. Each spare moment finds you dreaming yourself away to a tropical island. There’s no time for leisure or fun. You expect the gray hairs to start sprouting apace.

Finding fulfilling work is not easy – at all. Today, it’s not only about providing for yourself and your family. Work is much more than that. It’s about finding work that fulfills you. In these blinks, the author defines the concept of fulfilling work, and, maybe more importantly, introduces several steps you can take to find and achieve it.

In these blinks, you’ll discover

what psychologists say about the regret you’ll feel if you don’t do what’s important to you;
what Benjamin Franklin has to do with your choice of career; and
the pros and cons of being self-employed.

We’re dissatisfied when our expectations about work aren’t met.

Did you know that at least 50 percent of workers in the Western world are unhappy with their jobs? A survey across Europe even suggests that if people had the option to start over, 60 percent would choose a different career path. But what makes them so unhappy?

The dissatisfaction we feel at work often stems from the fact that our expectations are higher than ever before. Modern workers don't just pursue decent pay – they expect their job to give their life meaning.

However, this wasn’t always the case. People used to be happy with having a roof over their heads and food on the table. But now that most of us, in the Western world, are relatively affluent and can meet our basic needs, we're looking for more than just good pay.

So while you would probably reach the end of your tether toiling away on an assembly line, your grandparents were probably fine with it and even grateful to be able to pay their bills.

Nowadays, we’re after a feeling of purpose and want to pursue our personal passions, values and talents. Basically, we want our job to be fulfilling.

What, then, should we do? Well, you can either lower your expectations (supporters of this approach say that work has always been tedious and never a joy, and that therefore we should lower our expectations and look for fulfillment outside of work) or you can join those who think finding fulfilling work is possible, if perhaps challenging.

The latter approach encourages you to pursue your dreams, instead of regretting that you never tried to free yourself from the shackles of your unfulfilling job.

It’s fairly obvious that we’ll now proceed with the latter strategy! But before we see exactly what makes a career fulfilling, let's try to better understand why meaningful work can be so difficult to find.

In today’s world, there is an overwhelming number of job choices.

In the world of today, many of us face a crisis of uncertainty and confusion when trying to choose a career path. At the root of our bewilderment lies the fact that there are simply too many paths to choose from.

Such an overwhelming wealth of options is unprecedented in our history, so we’re pretty ill-equipped to handle it. A few decades ago, there simply weren’t many career choices to face.

It's not easy to leave the career path we're already on – but if it isn’t fulfilling, make a change!

Sometimes it's not being inundated with choice that’s the problem, but feeling trapped in a particular job. In such cases, change is what’s difficult. We often feel stuck because we’ve spent so much time and energy on the education that landed us a certain job – a job with which we’re now dissatisfied. So what to do?

There’s a considerable force that keeps us trapped in unfulfilling work: those early decisions that led us down a particular career path. As a result, we feel bound by our educational past.

Money and status aren't as fulfilling as we think.

So what are the core components that make a career fulfilling? The old-fashioned, knee-jerk response is “money and status.” But is that really true?

Sure, the bills must be paid with something, but money, as a pure happiness-enhancer, isn’t very effective. In fact, countless social science studies have shown that there is no clear relationship between happiness and monetary wealth.

Making a difference gives you a sense of meaning, though it’s not easy to combine with enterprise.

There are different core elements that make up fulfilling work. One of these elements is the sense that your work has meaning. That is, your work imparts a feeling of contributing to the world in a positive way.

When young students are asked about what they expect from their future employment, they’ll often answer, “I want to make a difference.” But what do they mean by this and how do they intend to do it?

Following your passions and finding your flow experiences will make you happy.

When sharing your career ideas with friends and family, you've probably been instructed to “just do what you love.” Although encouraging, this nugget of wisdom, easily said, is harder to adhere to. Because the question is – what exactly do you love doing?

In order to find out what you’re passionate about, set aside some time to mull over what gives you a flow experience.

If you want fulfilling work, you should seek freedom.

Here’s why most people are frustrated with their current job: they come home late, with no energy left to do what they really love, and tomorrow is but another identical day. If you can sympathize, you’re certainly not alone. Most people feel trapped in some abysmal job.

A core element proven to be part of job satisfaction is to have a “span of autonomy,” that is, some time where you're at liberty to make your own decisions. The more freedom you experience, the happier you’ll be.

The first and second steps to finding fulfilling work are to overcome your fear and narrow down your choices.

So now that you know what makes a job fulfilling, let’s get straight to the part that so many of us really seem to struggle with – actually finding fulfilling work.

The first hurdle is overcoming the fear that goes hand in hand with the thought of a major career change. However, if you’re fully aware of the psychology behind this fear, you’ll be able to defeat it.

In order to find fulfilling work, you should abandon meticulous planning and test it out.

Most career advisors instruct you to plan out your career in as much detail as possible before you execute it. There’s a problem with this approach, however: it hardly ever works.

A far more effective approach is adopting the mantra “act first, and reflect later” – meaning it’s better to try out several jobs than to fritter away the hours in search of the perfect position in print or online.

There are various ways to make both your career and your family life fulfilling.

When it comes to career and family, most of us want to have it all: we want the rewards of meaningful work and of dedicated partnership and parenthood. But is this possible and, if so, how do we get it?

Start by rethinking the roles traditionally laid out for men and women; if you don’t already, you should start regarding both father and mother as equal partners.

Take your time: vocation can't be found overnight – it slowly grows within you.

We've learned nearly everything about finding fulfilling work, but there is a final, vital element – your vocation.

Why is a vocation so critical? Well, vocation is something that gives purpose to your work in its entirety. It’s a broader goal that you are pursuing, the thing that gets you out of bed every day.

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What is How to Find Fulfilling Work about?

If you feel trapped in your job or long for more fulfilling work, you’re not alone. How to Find Fulfilling Work (2012) explores the core components of what makes work meaningful and full of purpose, detailing exactly which steps you need to take to find work that brings out the best in you and keeps you truly happy.

Best quote from How to Find Fulfilling Work

Where the needs of the world and your talents cross, there lies your vocation. - Aristotle

—Roman Krznaric

Who should read How to Find Fulfilling Work?

Those fed up with their current job but too scared to leave it
People ready to make a career change

About the Author

The Observer named author Roman Krznaric one of Britain’s leading popular philosophers. He teaches at The School of Life, of which he’s a founding member, and is a counselor to organizations such as Oxfam and the United Nations. His other works include Empathy and The Wonder Box.

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