How to Find Fulfillment When Your Job Doesn’t Provide It
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May 19, 2025
Feeling stuck in a job that lacks fulfillment? You're not alone—62% of people globally feel disengaged at work. This discussion delves into the idea that workplace satisfaction can be actively cultivated. You can redefine work satisfaction by aligning your job with personal values and embracing play in your tasks. The secret lies in creating meaning rather than expecting it to come from the job itself. Explore strategies for finding joy in work and recognizing when it's time to seek more aligned opportunities.
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Fulfillment Is A Cultural Construct
Fulfillment at work is largely a cultural construct shaped by individualist Western values focused on achievement and productivity.
Many indigenous collectivist cultures prioritize relationships, community, and spirituality over job-based fulfillment.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Create Fulfillment Yourself
Shift your mindset to create your own fulfillment instead of expecting it from your job.
Align how your job helps you meet your personal values across life domains like self, relationships, and work.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Use Play To Motivate Work
Bring play and creativity to tedious or boring tasks to increase engagement and motivation.
Turn routine tasks into challenges or games to maintain focus and reduce distraction.
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The Pleasure of Limits, the Uses of Boredom, and the Secret of Games
Ian Bogost
In 'Play Anything', Ian Bogost challenges the common view that playing games is merely an escape from life's challenges. Instead, he posits that play is a fundamental way to engage with the world by imposing boundaries and constraints, which can turn mundane activities into enjoyable and creative experiences. The book explores how play can be applied to various aspects of life, from games to everyday tasks, and argues that this approach can enhance creativity, well-being, and our overall appreciation for the world around us. Bogost draws on a wide range of disciplines, including philosophy, metaphysics, aesthetics, and psychology, to support his theory of play as a transformative force in modern life[4][5][6].
I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with friends and readers who feel stuck in jobs that don’t fulfill them. They’re not necessarily in toxic work environments or dealing with poor treatment (although that happens too—it’s the main cause of dissatisfaction at work). More often, they’re simply bored, feel undervalued, or think their work doesn’t matter.
They’re not alone. A 2024 Gallup report found that 62 percent of people globally are not engaged at work, and another 15 percent are actively disengaged. That means nearly 8 in 10 people feel checked out while on the clock.
Our job enables us to provide for ourselves and our families, but that can make us feel all the more shackled to a work situation that makes us miserable or unfulfilled. Are we meant to suck it up? Do we just have to accept the fact that not everyone gets to have a fulfilling job?
No. Even when your job doesn’t seem meaningful, you can still create meaning. Fulfillment doesn’t have to be something your job gives you. It can be something you bring to your job.
You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: How to Find Fulfillment When Your Job Doesn’t Provide It here.
Nir And Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and the brain by Nir Eyal. If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe on iTunes and leave an iTunes review. It will greatly help new listeners discover the show. Please visit my website Nir and Far for other info about my writing, books and teaching: http://www.nirandfar.com/
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