Are you a workaholic?  Or are you merely intoxicated by your work?  According to a recent article in the Harvard Business Review (May 2007), we all work "under the influence" of our emotions, perceptions, and motivations - but it's how we internalize these attitudes that either leads us to unhealthy side effects like stress and fatigue or to more healthy outcomes like meaning and fulfillment.  The authors, Theresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer,present data to show that our "inner life" impacts our performance at work, and while such external factors as management, culture and politics can dramatically influence our attitudes about our jobs, our true feelings about "work" come from the inside out. 

In our years of counseling and coaching our clients, we have witnessed firsthand the innermost human need to find and express "purpose."  Clear purpose is the glue that holds a meaningful worklife together and binds emotions, perceptions, and motivations, forming a narrative that impacts the entire trajectory of our worklife.  To paraphrase Victor Frankl in Man's Search for Meaning, the person who knows why they work is much more likely to perform in alignment with and in support of that purpose. 

But how can you be sure what your purpose is?  Clarifying your purpose can seem a very daunting task.  Where do you begin?

We've identified four, interconnected levels of purpose.  The first of these is Pragmatic purpose, which is work done specifically to make a living.  It is work serving as a means to an end.  In the words of E.B. White, "we should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry."  But at the same time, we need to support our livelihood.

The second level is Integrated purpose, which is work balanced with the other aspects of our lives.  You cannot be really successful at your work if your work is all that you are.  True success comes from integrating our work with our personal, family, and spiritual needs.  We need to be sure our work supports a life worth living.

The third level of purpose is found in work that makes a contribution beyond ourselves and the present.  We call this Connected purpose.  It is our mission, our calling, our legacy - it explains why we are here, as when Henry David Thoreau challenges us to "Aim above mortality.  Be not simply good; be good for something."

And the fourth is Transcendent purpose, which is work that is informed by our sense of spirit and awe.  It is recognition that our work must make way for the heart.  Spiritualist Matthew Fox writes, "without that heart food, we will surely die of starvation of the spirit, and all the promotions and fat paychecks in the world will not assuage the feeling that we are dying in the soul." 

As you explore your inner work life, we offer these questions to help you begin to clarify your own purpose:

• Why do you work?  If you didn't need the money, would you still work?  What would you do?  Why?
• What gives you the most energy, feelings of satisfaction, a sense of fulfillment?  What experiences have left you feeling charged?  Why?
• What have been the "defining moments" in your work and personal history?  When have you felt most at peace in your life?  Why?
• Who are your heroes?  Whom do you admire?  What about them points to your purpose?
• For what do you want to be recognized?  How will you want to be remembered when your life comes to an end?

Granted, these are not easy questions, but they can serve as a starting point in your planning.  Once you begin to clarify your purpose, you can take steps to build it into your work life.  If you would like to further explore your purpose with us, join us for a new one hour teleclass, entitled "Your Inner Work Life" on Wednesday, August 15 at 7:00 pm Eastern.  (6:00pm Central, 5:00pm Mountain, 4:00pm Pacific).

TO LEARN MORE OR TO REGISTER, CLICK HERE