Is your life in harmony with your work?

Jappreet Sethi

It’s the start of a new year, and by integrating your job with the goals of your life, you can make this year meaningful and holistic. Like a compass, purpose offers direction for individuals when making decisions and formulating goals. Employees with a purpose in life have a sense of direction. They feel there is meaning to their day to day humdrum. 

Regardless of gender,  most of the employees have to shoulder family responsibilities, and in the major cities, employees, regardless of gender, have a working spouse. Yet jobs are still designed as if workers have no family responsibilities. This is one of the biggest drivers of dissatisfaction.

Secondly, with the economies in a state of flux globally and increased rhetoric from global superpowers, the business is bound to go through stress. This stress and uncertainty dwells on the employees and makes them prone to sickness. 

Recent reports from the World Economic Forum in Davos do not paint a rosy picture either. They predict a slowdown globally. Making matters worse, Korn Ferry, a global talent search firm, found that 65 per cent of professionals are more stressed out at work than they were five years ago. This could be because a  significant number of individuals fail to find meaning in life, and exhibit symptoms of boredom, emptiness, and a lack of purpose in life and at work. 

As a corporate citizen, it will become easier to confront long lasting, difficult challenges with the knowledge that there is a bigger picture.  As we progress in the direction of our life aim, we facilitate other elements of well-being such as life satisfaction, serenity, and mindfulness. 

In whichever fashion, you integrate your life goals with your day-to-day job, you will have to take care of three common components: commitment, goal-directedness, and personal meaningfulness.  

Being goal oriented

You should make a strong pitch and effort to align your job duties and functions with the broader goals of your life, supposedly if you want to be known for innovation in your industry, make sure you are picking up those side projects to polish your skills. This would mean tweakings to your current job role or life expectations, in the end, you are the one who defines the harmony.

Personal meaningfulness

By having a purpose, one is motivated to dedicate resources in a particular direction and towards specific goals to achieve the desired results. Your job goals and activities are an outgrowth of your purpose in life. Make sure both gel and are not on the opposite ends. Fulfilment comes about at the integration of career and personal goals, not by keeping them separate.

Commitment to the journey

However bad the situation turns to be, at your work or in your life, you should stick to your life goals, it’s not easy, but giving up is not the solution either. By staying committed, you would be able to work through the tough times with the attitude that “ this too shall pass”.

Benefits of Integrating life goals and work

When work and personal life are holistically integrated, employees are more productive, healthier, more engaging in the workplace, and less likely to make mistakes. But when one area dominates the focus, the opposite is true and “burn out” occurs.

• People who tend to integrate work and life purpose
• May live longer and healthier
• Be open to experience
• Be interested in how their actions affect others
• Be more socially oriented and engaged
• Be aware of the long-term implications of their actions
• Also value humility, gratitude and integrity
• Demonstrate other qualities of resilience

— The writer is an HR & strategy consultant