The (REAL) Reason You Want to Do Work That Matters

You feel it too, don’t you? That little voice saying,
“You were meant for more.”

Exactly 10 years ago, I remember thinking, “You didn’t go to school 4 years to do this.” – I was a college graduate folding t-shirts at a store I knew marked their merch up 1000%, but only paid me $5.25 an hour. Miserable… Handing over my youth and energy for someone else’s dream.

First job I ever said, “Wellllllp. I quit.”

There’s a reason you feel like you’re meant for more.
There’s a reason you want to do work that matters
Remember Maslow’s triangle-y Hierarchy of Needs from Psych101?
Basically, humans have psychological and biological needs.
Once we’ve attained the very basics: food and shelter
Then we need: to feel physical safety and economic security
Then we need: to feel loved and connected
Then we need: to feel good about ourselves.
Then we need: to feel like what we do matters.

NEED to.
It’s a FEELING.

It’s like the mouse in “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie…”
Give him a cookie, then he’ll want a glass of milk…
Give him a glass of milk, he’ll want something else.
Then he’ll want something else.
Then something else.
Then one more thing.
And one more.
Sounds selfish, but really he’s just a mouse pursuing what brings him happiness.

Aren’t we all just trying to be happy?

I ran across this gem a few years ago:
Millennials are starting life at the top of the Hierarchy of Needs.
Wait. What?
Think about it: grammy and gramps, moms and pop – they said, “I want to make life easier for my kids!”
And they did it.
They DID it!
(Thanks mom and dad, muah!!)

They did made life EASIER.
We didn’t have to struggle just to get basics.
No, no, no, no, no!
We’re the participation trophy generation, remember?
(I hate that rude stereotype, but I love this photo of me in all my glory as a bespectacled-90s-kid-field-day-participation-ribbon-hot-mess.)

So what’s at the top?
“Self-Actualization”
AKA: gettin’ busy on being your most excellent YOU
AKA: reaching your potential
AKA: the meaning of life
AKA: doing what you’re meant to
AKA: doing work that matters.

Makes perfect sense! Right?!
Life is whispering, “You were meant for more than this,” because it’s true.
We’ve just never been here before.
Society hasn’t caught up to the idea that we’re not trying to survive anymore – we’re trying to thrive!
And everyone’s too busy going on about those dang trophies to notice:
85% of people aren’t happy at work, when Psychologically speaking, most people are are at a place where work NEEDS to feel like it matters in order to be happy.

Biological, Psychological, and Emotional needs.

(So stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Simon Sinek. You can earn back the title “my idol” after you take back some recent millennial smack-talk!)

So what matters to you?
What does “make a difference” look and feel like?
What would the future look like if we all did work that mattered to us?
What would it take to get there?
What’s the connection to get you from where you are now to where you’ve always wanted to go?

***Oh, and head fake: The real tippy top of Maslow’s Hierarchy is “Self-Transcendence.”
It’s knowing “work that matters” isn’t meant to benefit just you.
Gandhi was right, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
But you can’t help anyone else until you help yourself first.
So put a pin in that.
Most people aren’t here yet – we’re getting there.***