I just hosted a workshop on personal leadership this past weekend, and I was shocked to find that literally half the attendees said, not just that they didn’t like their job, but that it made them feel like jumping out the window.  Granted, they were joking, but that’s the level of distaste they had for their jobs, and it made me wonder just how widespread this is.

In speaking with them, most had taken the jobs that they had to be responsible, to provide for themselves and their families, but that just wasn’t enough for them.  Their jobs had no meaning to them – they were just grinding away waiting for the end of the day, and this had gone on for years.

The other common thread I kept hearing is that none of these people had any sense of life purpose in their lives. They didn’t know what was the source of their passion, meaning and motivation.  I know that this is virtually an epidemic across North America, because I’ve been running my Discovery Program for connecting with purpose, and then crafting your life plan from that, for 20 years now.  I know there’s a hunger for this.

What I didn’t realize was the depth of dissatisfaction with the jobs people are in.  Perhaps it’s because so many have been in meaningless, purpose-less jobs for so long.  Perhaps it’s because we’re waking up in society to acknowledge that we are entitled to have more than just a job – that it is OK, and in fact a right to expect to have meaningful work.  Thank goodness for the younger generation (’Nexus’ generation/ ‘GenerationY’) for stepping up and demanding meaningful work so that everyone can now start to look for – and find it.

The day of just having a job and being expected to be happy with that are fast coming to an end.

Tags: Employment, Job Search, life purpose, meaning

This entry was posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2010 at 4:36 pm and is filed under Current Affairs, Purpose. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.