All Articles Leadership How closely aligned is your job with your "life's purpose?"

How closely aligned is your job with your “life’s purpose?”

2 min read

Leadership

SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Leadership — tracks feedback from more than 190,000 business leaders. We run the poll question each week in our e-newsletter.

Last week, we asked: How closely aligned is your job with your “life’s purpose?”

  • Very closely — my work is directly tied to my purpose in life: 24.18%
  • Kind of — there are some aspects of my work tied to my life’s purpose: 32.24%
  • Not really — my work has little to do with my life’s purpose:  29.17%
  • I haven’t figured out my life’s purpose: 14.42%

Never work a day in your life. The old aphorism states that if you love what you do (your purpose), then it really isn’t work. If you’re in the 30% that’s not aligned between your work and your purpose, consider reevaluating the work you do and finding something more meaningful when you can. If you’re in the 14% who doesn’t have a purpose, spend a few days reflecting on what your purpose in life is and see how it can align with your work. Once you find that overlap between purpose and work, you’ll find you’re more efficient and effective in the work you do.

Mike Figliuolo is managing director of thoughtLEADERS and author of “One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful, Personal Leadership.”