Article written by Stephen Friedman for Harvard Business Review
As an organizational studies professor at the Schulich School of Business in Toronto, Canada, I get the opportunity to help my students with various aspects of their career development. In the process, I’ve noticed two common threads. First, most of my students are not only eager to enter the world of work, but also to be excellent at what they do. Second, they want their post-graduation job to be loaded with purpose.
Unfortunately, as they begin to look for and apply to roles, the latter proves hard to achieve. Many are quick to reject work that fails to align with their defined purpose. The longer their search ensues, however, the more anxious they become. They reach out to me concerned that they will never find the purpose they seek, a fear exacerbated by the belief that other people already have.
If you’re a recent grad just entering the workforce, you may feel similarly — that your calling is within reach, and that if you find it, everything will fall into place. Though this may be true for some, in my experience, it’s an unrealistic expectation that often leads to more harm than good.
Take the example of one of my former students. Shortly after graduating, she landed a job she was certain would fill her with purpose. She had been passionate about fitness since her teens and was hired at a company that manufactures energy drinks to nourish and energize athletes. As an extravert, she wanted a role that involved face time with clients, and opportunities to motivate and lead others. But the connection to fitness, she decided, was her true purpose.
Once she was in the job, she found the work narrow and generic. As an entry-level employee at a large organization, she began to feel like a cog in the wheel, and soon realized it would take several years before she was given a chance to be involved in the people-facing work she loved.
Maybe declaring her purpose was not effective. Or maybe, what she thought was her purpose, was not. Regardless, there was nothing about the job that she liked, that she enjoyed, or that allowed her to show what she was good at. The whole experience damaged her self-esteem, distorted her self-image, and left her dreading the future.
As my student learned, the roles you take on early in your career are typically not grandiose or imbued with deep, worldly significance — and there’s nothing wrong with that. The trick is to make work meaningful by making it a part of your exploration, as opposed to expecting a job to fulfill your entire reason for being. That is a tall order.
As you prepare to step into the workforce, my advice is to take some pressure off yourself. Don’t declare a lofty, idealized purpose now (or maybe ever). Here’s why I believe you should let the idea of “purpose” go, and what you can focus on instead.
How the Pressure to Craft a Purpose Affects Us
In the 1950s, psychologist Leon Festinger argued that we humans have a built-in need to judge ourselves. We often do this by comparing ourselves to others. I see this with my students, many of whom tell me the weight of “finding and pursuing their purpose” is driven by the expectations of their peers and families, as well as examples of others doing the same on social media.
The emphasis on having a purposeful career is supported by businesses, too. In recent years, the idea of the purpose-driven organization has skyrocketed. We can see it reflected in the zeal of new leaders, who, in an effort to motivate their employees, aim to define their purpose and get people aligned with it.
The problem is, when purpose is framed as “the ultimate reason for our existence” it is easy to see how a particular career path might be viewed as a pivotal, once-in-a-lifetime decision. Perhaps this is why a large portion of my students see a “calling or passion-driven” career as the only way to approach finding a good job. As a result, they often suffer serious anxiety during the job search and end up sticking with their initial, declared choice — even when it fails to serve them.
In your own journey, a rigid pursuit of purpose can have a negative impact on your mental and physical health, resulting in depleted motivation and other comparison-based health problems, such as substance abuse, self-esteem reduction, and disappointment.
There are Better Ways to Craft a Meaningful Career
Consider how the characteristics of our romantic relationships, as well as our relationships with friends and family, evolve as we enter adulthood. As we grow older, our needs and goals begin to change — and they keep changing, almost unpredictably, throughout our lives. For instance, the kind of partner we like at 18 is likely quite different from the kind we look for when we’re 25. We evolve, gain experiences and wisdom, get to know the world better, and get to know ourselves better. Similarly, what we’re looking for from our jobs and careers changes in the same way. It’s possible our previously determined purpose (if we even have one) will change or have little to do with our career.
Outside of popular anecdotes and social media stories, there is little evidence that a single, defined “purpose” is necessary for a rewarding career. In fact, it can be quite the opposite. It’s surprisingly common to go after what we think is our “purpose” only to discover that we hate it. The evidence connects career satisfaction (or career happiness) to less lofty things like doing “what you like, prefer, enjoy” and “what you are good at.” Growth from exploration, curiosity, and lifelong learning has also been linked to career satisfaction.
So, if you feel like you don’t have a career purpose, don’t worry. Research has shown that doing what you are good at and using your developing strengths at work is associated with greater meaningfulness. Feeling happy and fulfilled at work ultimately relies on working toward a meaningful career. While the concept of purpose focuses on identifying a life goal, meaning is more about knowing the nature of your work matters to you or others in some way.
Below are a few reflections questions to help you shift your focus from “purpose” to “meaning.” Let them guide you as you pick your first (or second) job, and aim to find happiness at work.
What do I like, prefer, or enjoy doing?
Let go of yearning for a career purpose. Dial it back and consider what you liked (not loved) about any of your previous jobs, school projects or other ways you spend your time.
For example, perhaps you liked helping your peers organize their work or enjoyed researching sources for group projects. Maybe you liked working in groups more than working alone because it made you feel appreciated by others. In this case, look for a role that requires you to work regularly with a team. That’s a great starting point.
Although it may not seem like your ultimate career, doing what you currently enjoy, like, and are good at, brings energy and recognition. I encourage you to use these starting points as opportunities to build a habit of lifelong learning, known to cause bouts of deep personal happiness.
What am I good at?
Early on in your career, you will have many bourgeoning skills. These are skills that you are good at now and can get even better at with more practice. Think about stuff you are progressively getting better at.
For example, let’s say you used to hate math, but in business school, you were better at accounting than you imagined you would be. What’s more, you enjoyed it. Or maybe you realized that you’re good at coming up with ideas and executing them. You may want to look for a role that asks for skills like “financial planning/reporting” or roles looking for “an entrepreneurial mindset.” Getting to use and improve skills that you’re already good will energize you, and provide you with a feeling of recognition and usefulness.
Would this role provide growth and learning that I can use later?
Imagine that you’re graduating from business school. Although it was not a part of your course work, you had to learn to use a design tool like Figma or Adobe Illustrator. Maybe you did a final strategy presentation with a large group of stakeholders, and you discovered how to use Trello or JIRA for project management and really enjoyed it.
Many starting roles ask for applicants who have had experience with tools like these. And yes, this experience “counts” as skills! They are often desired versus required skills and having them could give you an upper hand in landing a role. Who knows, you could end up getting great at using them and really enjoy that. This experience could help you have even more choices in your next role.
Choices help you identify opportunities you may not have seen and can encourage you to act on them. Then, you can reap the rewards of doing so, which includes getting better at what you are doing – or what scholars call “ability development.” Research — as well as our previous life experiences — shows that ability development brings with it greater happiness, satisfaction, and meaning. Who doesn’t want to get better at stuff? Opportunities to learn and grow helps to create meaning in many contexts, including work. This occurs even if the improvement involves a task we may not have considered in the past.
. . .
As your start out, know that not every job will be filled with meaning or happiness all the time. Also know that your day job doesn’t have to fulfill your purpose. Both things are okay. There is much to be said for looking at alternative avenues to do deep, purposeful work — a side gig (small business, blog, newsletter), volunteering, or sitting on the board for your local community organization. It might even be something creative that you love, but likely won’t end up getting paid to do.
Sure, it seems nice to have a career purpose all decided and laid out. But realistically, I find it overrated. Committing to a career purpose is likely too static for the realities of a volatile work world. Go for some meaning instead, and you may just find the joy at work you’re looking for.