Finding Fulfillment at Work and at Home: A New Way of Thinking
Most of us need to work in one capacity or another. It's one of the primary ways we provide for our families and contribute to society. Work is important, and the right job can be satisfying. But too much time spent at work can harm your health, happiness, and relationships.
Research shows that spending more than the average time at work can lead to poorer mental and physical health. When you spend less time with friends and family, it can lead to loneliness and depression. And overworking is associated with a higher risk of heart disease, cancer, and other chronic illnesses.
For many people, the goal is to find a job they love—one that pays well enough so they can enjoy life outside of work. But when you're working so much that your whole life revolves around getting ahead in your career or climbing the corporate ladder, it's easy to lose sight of what's important: harmony.
Achieving a new way of thinking about work, home life, and personal happiness
There's a new way of thinking emerging that can help you find fulfillment at work and home. It goes beyond the idea of living a balanced life to embracing the idea that there are many kinds of balance, which means there are many ways to live well. It's not about finding just one path. It's about finding harmony and creating your own path by mixing and matching your interests, priorities, and values.
This new way of thinking is holistic. It's about seeing connections between different areas of your life and appreciating how they influence each other. Holistic thinking leads to better decisions because it gives us a fuller picture of what we want out of our lives—including work-life harmony—so we can make choices that will lead us toward our goals rather than away from them.
Nurturing your soul
It's not just your body that needs nourishment. Your soul does too.
You may think the two are separate, but they're not. From a spiritual perspective, your body and mind are one. Whatever happens in one affects the other.
The first step in finding your soul's purpose is to nurture it. Nurturing your soul means taking care of yourself by doing activities that help you feel more grounded, happy, and connected to something larger than yourself. It also means being mindful of what you need, even if that means saying no to things that are important to others but not to you.
Many things can fulfill you at work and home, but it's important to identify them. Here are some ideas:
Find activities that nourish your soul (such as meditation or prayer) and do them regularly.
Practice gratitude.
Learn new skills.
Expand your knowledge base by reading books related to your profession and personal interests.
Make time for family and friends, even if it means taking a break from your laptop or phone.
Set aside time each day to be alone with yourself.
We live in a world that emphasizes utility over emotion. We make purchases to ease our lives, but they rarely suffice; we are always looking for what's next. There is no time to slow down and enjoy the process (slow is not efficient.) But there is a time and place for stressing over utility, but not always. Most of us have lives worth living beyond the office walls—family, leisure activities, nights out with friends—it can all be combined into one life worth living. So why not use that as a new way of finding fulfillment at work and home?