Do This One Thing When You Feel Like Your Work Doesn’t Matter

And whenever you’re stuck in a rut

Photo by yanalya

You’re going through the motions at work, but something feels off. There’s no more passion, and whenever you think about it, you’re overwhelmed with negative emotions and self-doubt.

“Should I be doing this anymore?”

When people feel like their work doesn’t matter, they say something along these lines: “We can’t all be doctors, lawyers or architects.”

Most people think that having a noble profession automatically brings meaning and purpose, but I’m here to tell you that this isn’t true.

I’ve been working as a doctor for the past decade, and while I’ve gained status, confidence, and financial security, I struggle with finding purpose. It’s not because what I do doesn’t matter, even though I sure feel that way at times. I think my apathy stems from the fact that I’ve ignored my passions for so long.

What I’ve learned is that you could have the best job in the world — if it isn’t aligned with your values and doesn’t make you happy, it will feel pointless. The meaning we attribute to important things in our lives can make or break our happiness, our will to thrive, and even survive. Victor Frankl says it better, in his book, “Man’s Search for Meaning”:

“Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.”― Victor Frankl

How can we, then, redefine our purpose?

The one most effective way I’ve found to get out of a professional rut is to check in with my goals and ask a series of questions.

Revisit your goals

We all have goals, whether we’ve set them consciously or unconsciously. Goals are our specific destination, our guiding lighthouse. We head towards them because we believe reaching them will make us happy. But that belief can be a lie.

When I started to get intentional with self-improvement, I became very goal-oriented. Every year I had a massive brain-storm session where I set goals…