Imagine a point in the future where you have achieved your greatest professional goal. Invest a moment here. Visualize your career success. You have worked hard and have earned this. Now consider this question: How does this success feel?
I think most people will have some level of contentment or satisfaction. Others may feel a bit of pride in the accomplishment. Some may begin to ponder, “What’s next?” Those responses are all normal and valid.
Now, imagine it’s six months after that major achievement. Consider these questions:
- How do you feel now (six months later)?
- What is motivating you now?
- What occupies your time and thinking now (both at work and at home)?
Yale professor and economist James Choi tells his students that “the greatest scarcity they will face in their professional lives is not a scarcity of opportunity, but a scarcity of meaning,” He contends that finding happiness in life can be accomplished only by knowing our why (or our purpose.)
Choi explains that thinking about some future ultimate success or reaching major life goals can become arrival fallacies. Here, we mistakenly believe that we achieve happiness only after achieving a particular goal. This, he contends, can lead to deep disappointment.
Choi maintains that the only way to find contentment and happiness in life is to identify a purpose. Our purpose answers why we get up in the morning and go to work. It answers why we live, laugh, and love. It answers the deepest existential question of our raison d'etre.
Your challenge:
Make two lists: 1.) Past Opportunities, and 2.) Future Opportunities (that you hope for)
e.g., Perhaps you had the opportunity to play sports in high school. Perhaps you’ve had college or training opportunities. Maybe you’ve traveled, or had some good (or bad!) job opportunities. Jot these down.
Then, make your second list of opportunities you hope to have in the future.
e.g., Maybe you hope to have the opportunity to gain a training certification, or a college degree. Perhaps you hope for opportunities to start a business… or travel… or volunteer… or get a promotion at work, advancing your career. Maybe you want to find a partner, start a family, or help solve a societal problem. Jot your ideas.
Now, review both lists. What items have deeper meaning related to your life goals (your real purpose), as opposed to surface level professional achievement. Circle the opportunities that are most meaningful. Then ponder why they’re meaningful. Lastly, ask yourself where you want to spend your time: pursuing opportunity, or pursuing meaning.
Debrief: You are now practicing missional thinking. This leads to clarity. Deep questions move us from simply going through the motions of life or work, to actually living. Finding internal fulfillment—and not simply career success—can be remarkably energizing.
Are you ready for the challenge? What might happen if you decide to pursue meaning over everyday opportunities? The time to begin is now.
Homework Challenge: How might you apply these ideas in your work (professional life)? How might you apply them at home?
Additional Resources: Dr. Brian Raison (raison.1@osu.edu) serves as a Professor and Extension Specialist at The Ohio State University. He has extracted these tools over the past dozen years from his formal classes and Extension programs. Free downloads and videos (and about 25 free e-book codes) are available online: http://encouragingmentor.com
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