An Authentic Human's Guide to Finding Meaningful Work

Deborah Mourey

• Publisher: Smarty Pants Press
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9780578805221
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Careers

"This isn't an advice book, it's a Huh, I never thought of it that way book."

Do any of these statements feel true for you?

• Finding a job can be relatively easy but finding a job I feel happy in is tough.
• I don't seem to fit into any career box.
• My family wants me to go (or go back) to college but I'm not sure if I should.
• When I think about finding a new job, I feel overwhelmed or stuck.
• My last boss was terrible. I want to avoid a situation like that again.

If you checked any of these boxes, then this book is for you. Complete with case studies and exercises, An Authentic Human's Guide to Finding Meaningful Work is here to help you find your own unique path forward. Since no one else has the same upbringing, values, experience, talents, hopes, and dreams, this guide won't tell you what you "should" do, but instead encourage you to look at your options deeply and differently.

We can all find work that feeds not just our bodies but our souls-and that includes you. This book will help open your mind to new strategies and possibilities.

An Authentic Human’s Guide to Finding Meaningful Work

An Authentic Human's Guide to Finding Meaningful Work

Copyright ©2020 by Deborah Mourey

All rights reserved, which includes the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever except as provided by the U.S. Copyright Law.

Published by Smarty Pants Press

www.authenticmeaningfulwork.com

ISBN-13: 978-0-578-75784-1

To my family, thank you for always making me laugh

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To the people who let me include their stories in this book, I am inspired by you every day.

To all the folks who listened to me endlessly blab on about this book and the topic, thank you.

I hope if you ever write a book, you are lucky enough to be surrounded by people like these:

Editor: Rebecca Pillsbury (duendepressbooks.com)

As you predicted, I am transformed.

Design: Antonio Garcia Martin (thisisagm.com)

You brought my words to life.

Author photo: Izabela Mattson (izabelamattson.com)

Took joyous photos

Copy editor: Kristin Thiel (kristinthiel.com)

Made what I wrote much, much better

Publishing support: Bryan Tomasovich (thepublishingworld.org)

Showed me the map through the maze

TABLE OF CONTENTS

An Authentic Human’s Guide to Finding Meaningful Work

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTION - What Is Meaningful Work?

CHAPTER 1 - Good Intentions, Bad Advice

YOU WORK IT - Make a list of your unique qualities.

CHAPTER 2 - Changing a Lifetime of “Unbelonging” Messages

YOU WORK IT- Pay attention to the messages that are playing in your head.

CHAPTER 3 - My Path to Finding Meaningful Work

YOU WORK IT - Observe patterns in the jobs you’ve had.

CHAPTER 4 - Take Stock of Your Tool Kit

MEANINGFUL WORK\CASE STUDY\J

YOU WORK IT - Assess your strengths and weaknesses

CHAPTER 5 - Know Your Personal Values

MEANINGFUL WORK\CASE STUDY\M

YOU WORK IT - Understand your values.

CHAPTER 6 - Assess Your Current “Work”

YOU WORK IT - PART 1 - Rate your current job.

YOU WORK IT - PART 2 - Pretend to quit your job.

CHAPTER 7 - Should You Go Back to School?

MEANINGFUL WORK\CASE STUDY\O

YOU WORK IT - Get honest about your education.

YOU WORK IT

CHAPTER 8 - The Power of Community

YOU WORK IT - BONUS - Make an audit of your current community.

CHAPTER 9 - Finding a Mentor

MEANINGFUL WORK\CASE STUDY\DJ

YOU WORK IT - Find a mentor.

CHAPTER 10 - The Pull of Entrepreneurship and Independent Work

MEANINGFUL WORK\CASE STUDY\R

YOU WORK IT - Consider being your own boss.

CHAPTER 11 - Boss Shopping

YOU WORK IT - Imagine an ideal boss.

CHAPTER 12 - Where Do You Fit In?

MEANINGFUL WORK\CASE STUDY\H

YOU WORK IT - Imagine an ideal work environment.

CHAPTER 13 - You’re In! How to Thrive in Your New Position

MEANINGFUL WORK\CASE STUDY\V

YOU WORK IT - Set yourself up for success.

CHAPTER 14 - Envisioning Future Work

YOU WORK IT - Go ahead—picture the possibilities!

Appendix

References

INTRODUCTION - What Is Meaningful Work?

It’s hard to find work you love; it must be, if so few do. So, don’t underestimate this task. And don’t feel bad if you haven’t succeeded yet. In fact, if you admit to yourself that you’re discontented, you’re a step ahead of most people.

—Paul Graham, “How to Do What You Love”1

When I was thinking about writing this book, I knew I wanted to write about more than just searching for work; there are lots of resources for that (see the appendix). But how do we find meaningful work? That is, work that fuels us—work that helps us grow and build community, that nourishes our sense of self-worth, where we can be our best selves. Not just our profession but the way we spend our limited time and creativity to earn a living.

Most of us will spend more time at work than we will with our loved ones. Meaningful work, whatever our definition, is critical to our well-being. The more we do what we love, the fewer headaches, crushed spirits, and world-weariness we’ll experience.

In the satisfying work that I finally found for myself, I have the privilege of interacting regularly with people in their teens, twenties, and thirties, those of you called millennials and Gen Z. You all have taught me so much; I am grateful to know you.

There are so many things I appreciate and respect about millennials and Gen Z. One is your desire to be authentic, which is accompanied by a talent for quickly spotting a phony. In addition, you have an expectation of workplace diversity and inclusion that is significantly more accepting than that of previous generations. You understand that we are all better off when we accept ourselves and others, regardless of gender, economic status, race, creed, etc.

But when I talked with some of you about your work journey, I heard frustration, disappointment, confusion, and sadness. My goal with this book is to offer relief, optimism, fortitude, clarity, and hopefully even a little joy.

"...with self-awareness, experimentation, persistence, and luck...I could change the course of my career in wonderful and unexpected ways."

I learned throughout my career that there wasn’t much support for finding meaningful work. There were lots of people willing to give me advice on their way, but not many people encouraged me to do it my way. I wanted to find work that matched who I was, that honored my skills—and my need to earn a living. Through my career’s twists and turns, I eventually found work that was meaningful to me.

I was most successful when I was clear about myself and what I needed and wanted and when I reached out for help. I learned that with self-awareness, experimentation, persistence, and luck (for example, meeting the right person at the right time), I could change the course of my career in wonderful and unexpected ways. The road to meaningful work will be different for each person.

Each of us can make our own rules and find our own answers through using tools like the ones in this book and then running our own experiments. A career is a journey—there is no getting around that. And it’s often bumpy and messy. Like many worthwhile things in life, it takes time, patience, and commitment. But I hope the ideas in this book will help ease your journey. Please take what you like and leave the rest.

Building a Foundation

This book is built around the following equation:

My values (who I am at this point in my life)

+

My skills (current and those I hope to gain)

+

My available resources (people/tools)

+

My actions (experimenting, questioning, taking risks)

= A path to meaningful work

Part 1 of this book focuses on the first part of the formula: understanding who you are today. It involves inner work—assessing who you are and where you’re at right now. You will have different needs throughout your life; partnering, children, promotions, responsibilities, etc., will all shift your priorities. The future will be f...

Table of contents

• An Authentic Human’s Guide to Finding Meaningful Work