IN PREPARATION FOR WRITINGmy most
recent book,Real Happiness at Work,I
interviewed a lot of people, many of whom
work dramatically different jobs—from a
Wall Street executive to a carpet cleaner to
a public-school teacher to an undercover
policewoman, and more. My goal in
writing about happiness at work was not to
assume or argue that we all can find work
we love or a job that is particularly
fulfilling. Rather, I wanted to identify the
ways in which we can find peace and
meaning, or a sense of purpose, in our day-
to-day professional lives, even in a position
we don’t necessarily think of as our dream
job. Why the search for meaning? It’s
considered the strongest factor in one’s
happiness at work, ranking even higher
than position or status, according to survey
findings from The Energy Project, a
consulting firm that focuses on workplace
fulfillment. And lest you think your own
happiness is a selfish thing, it’s not—it
becomes an inner resource out of which
you can care for others.
Yet many of us feel like Tracy, who
works as a secretary and told me how she
struggles with separating her identity from
her job. “It’s a huge challenge to not see
myself as just a secretary,” she explained. “I
do my best to be of service at a job that wasnever a great fit, but it’s wearing me down.”
Like Tracy, we struggle at work to find
meaning and figure out who we are in
relation to our jobs, as they are often
the cause of disappointment, stress,
competitiveness, and sometimes even
downright despair. And while we cannot
change those times when we are
condescended to by our boss, disappointed
by a failure, or overwhelmed by an
astronomical workload, we can change
how we relate to these experiences by
cultivating certain skills that allow us to
find meaning in the process. Meditation, I
believe, is one of the most essential tools to
help us do this.
Meditation helps us cultivate
foundational skills such as awareness,
connection, and resilience. It’s certainly
possible to find meaning at work without
formal, seated meditation, but I’ve seen
that for many, a regular meditation
practice makes it easier. The two qualities
most closely aligned with meditation that
bring meaning into one’s work are
mindfulness and compassion.
Mindfulness, which is refining our
attention so we can connect more directly
with each moment, allows us to feel more
aware of and open to what actually is, as
opposed to our judgements, assumptions,and preconceptions. It is in this way that
mindfulness often translates to a sense of
excellence—when you are fully present in
what you’re doing, you can do it well and
find meaning in that process. The second
concept, compassion, is really listening to
others, treating them with respect, and
acknowledging our connectedness.
The truth is that with mindfulness and
compassion, all work has the potential to
be meaningful depending on how we pay
attention to and relate to others and our
own experiences. Let’s look at four ways
to find meaning in our work lives through
different practices of the two concepts.- Mindfully set expectations
of what your job means to
you.
Steve Jobs has been both lauded and
criticised for his 2oo5 commencement
speech at Stanford University, in which he
told graduates, “The only way to do great
work is to love what you do.” On the one
hand, Jobs knew the importance of finding
meaning in our work, especially when we
spend so much of our time working.
According to an OECD report, Australians
spend around 43 hours a week at work. A
recent Gallup report found that Americans
Work matters
Meditation teacher and best-selling author, Sharon
Salzberg, shares how we can find fulfillment and
meaning at work ... in any job we do.
42
april 2016yogajournal.com.auPHOTO: MEDIAPHOTOS/ISTOCKPHOTO.COM