Finding Meaning in Work

Just last week I finished Viktor Frankl’s book Man’s Search for Meaning and 3 key points stood out to me.

Frankl explains that there are three main roads to arriving at meaning in life:

1. In work – Finding meaning and purpose through the work we do or work we plan to do. Think about that book or idea you want to bring to life
2. In relationships – Whether it be loved ones, children or people that depend on you
3. Through struggle – Looking at struggle as an opportunity to decide how you want to act/react and the version of yourself you want to bring to that situation

What stuck with me is that we can find ourselves in all 3 of these in our work. 

Whether it’s the big piece of analysis you’re planning to do, your family benefiting from the resulting promotion or sometimes the headaches that come from getting your work out there (toxic workplaces can do a number on you). 

If this is where we individually find meaning, how can you flip the script and use this to bring meaning for the audience of your work or presentations?

I highly recommend this amazing book. Part memoir of his time in the concentration camps during World War 2 and part introduction to his work in Logotherapy.

Here’s a full list of what I’m currently reading.