6 steps to improve the "Meaning Quotient" of your work

We spend 70-80% of our waking lives at our workplace. Yet, world over, people complain of job dissatisfaction, monotonous work lives, disinterest at work, fatigue and stress. Inspired by people I have learnt from, I made a list of 6 simple steps of how you can find meaning at your workplace. How you can improve your "Meaning Quotient" at work.

1) Know that your job is an important part of a bigger plan

No matter what your job is, how big or small it is, the fact that it exists, means its important. No company keeps a job position for charity.Your job matters, so its there. You can do the job well, so you have it. Remind yourself of this fact everyday if necessary. Your job is an important part of the bigger organisational plan. Embrace it with that respect. Go to work every morning with this confidence. I remember this story where a person visits a place where a beautiful temple is being built. He sees many workers working on the construction. This person goes to one worker and asks him what he's doing. The worker answers that he is laying bricks. He asks another worker who is also laying bricks, what he's doing. This person answers that he is building a beautiful temple. Both were laying bricks,but only one could see how his job contributed to the bigger plan of building a temple. How do you treat your job? Laying bricks or building a temple?

2) Have pride in what you do

I once met a little 8 year old girl who was picking up pebbles from a dusty road in her village. Her father, the village sarpanch ( Constitutional leader of the community) told me that she did this every every evening at about 5 pm. I asked her why she did it. With great pride she said, that because she picks up these pebbles, all her uncles ( men of the village) coming back from work on their bicycles do not slip and fall ! Her father went on to explain how everyone appreciated her gesture and more kids joined her now. The result was a cleaner village too! I was moved seeing the confident and innocent glow on her face. With great simplicity she taught me, that no matter what the job, if we are proud of what we do, it will make a huge difference to our stakeholders. Not to mention strengthen our position as important influencers at work.

3) Make a systematic plan to improve yourself

Life is evolving. The world is changing. Technology is galloping. Everything is improving. Then why not us? Yes. Make a plan for self improvement. One new skill a month. One new concept a week. One new word a day. It could be anything, as long as it makes you a more informed person than yesterday, last week and last month. Your self inspired, self driven approach to life will not go unnoticed. My husband Ajay, is the "Voice of Improvement" in my head. Always nudging me to do better, learn more. Who, where is your voice?

4) Be ready for mundane days

Everyday at work is not going to be dramatically exciting. Most days may be mundane. Regular. Routine. Such is life. Have the eye to look for the magical in the mundane. On days when everything seems little dull and calm, use the time to read up something new. Work on your own upskilling. Clean your desk and drawers.Sharpen your saw, so you are ready when the excitement -time to cut the tree, comes! I once worked with a boss who used to say that he comes to work expecting a long list of things to go wrong. If the day went by without all that happening, then it was a super day!

5) Don't compare

I have seen this around the world- everything in our life seems ok until we compare it to others.Then suddenly, everyone else seems to be better off than ourselves! Save yourself from this. Compare yourself to how you were before. Not to someone else. Everyone is rowing their own boat at their own speed. Neither judge them,nor yourself. Be kind to them and yourself. Sri Sri says that contentment is the biggest achievement of life. A contented man is a happy, peaceful man.Be content in what you have. More will come. Have the confidence that what you need will come to you. If you do want to compare, do it with someone who is less endowed than you. At least you have a job, millions don't even have that.

6) Be kind and friendly with your colleagues

Though workplaces need to be competitive to foster excellence and growth, they don't need to be war zones! We can compete with our colleagues but we don't need to be hostile or rude. I had a boss once, who used to come to office everyday with 5 marbles in the left pocket of his jacket. Everytime he was nice, kind or helpful to someone, he would move 1 marble to the right pocket. If he was rude, or shouted at anyone, the marble moved back to the left pocket. He never went home until all 5 marbles moved to his right pocket. I saw this everyday for the 7 months I worked with him! What kind of culture do you want to build at your workplace? Trust or mistrust? Being helpful & kind or unhelpful & rude?

Its up to us to find meaning in our work. Improve the "Meaning Quotient". It will automatically improve our "Performance and Excellence Quotients"! Success is then a forgone conclusion.

Its better to work on creating the meaning, finding the meaning in our work, than running after success.

Knowing which comes first, can make all the difference in having a joyful, meaningful life.

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