Why millennial women want to feel on purpose in their careers?
Photo by Helen Karam
Where does your current motivation to work come from ?
Is it your salary? Contributing to your family business? Having a greater impact in the world? Keeping yourself busy?
We all have different answers to this question because we have have different value systems that dictate our priorities and where we want to place our energy into.
Some people prioritize their family life, others their career, their health, being able to cultivate their hobbies and so on….there is no right or wrong, just what is meaningful to you.
What does purpose mean ?
The dictionary definition of the noun “Purpose” is : the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.
The concept of purpose has become more and more popular in the personal development world and I’ve seen many different opinions around the need of having a purpose or not, especially related to our jobs.
Something important to notice is that your purpose doesn’t have to be connected to your career, it can be expressed in the way you raise your kids, you take care of your body, the way you travel, the way you are interested in politics or social matters.
And in these cases, still most of us have to work to support our purposes, you may choose a career that allows you to fulfill your purpose elsewhere in your life, and that’s totally ok! No shame about that!
If you feel happy and satisfied in a “not so exciting or original career” according to what your mind or society tells you, it doesn’t mean something is wrong with you. Have a look at where your energy is going instead.
Purpose doesn’t have to be your career BUT it totally can be!
Said that, your purpose CAN be expressed through your career if you want, and it will fuel and motivate you endlessly when your job is driven by a greater mission.
And it seems like the new generations, from the millennials onwards ( commonly defined as people born between 1983 and 2000) have embraced more and more the need of marrying both having a career and feeling on purpose in it.
I’m myself a millennial woman and I mainly work with women as a Career and Mindset Coach so I’ll focus on looking at this demographic to share my opinion on this topic also based on what I have observed in my clients.
Personally I’ve always felt lighten up by the idea of being able to do something you’re passionate about as your job and I’ve spent the last 4 years making this a reality for me. I’m one of that people that have a very hard time being productive doing something I don’t enjoy and I have to admit it has not always been like this.
It only started when I understood I had the CHOICE……
A story of happened when I lost motivation in my career
Last week I shared this blog post about my own story and what led me to change the direction of my career very early on. There I explained that as a little girl I was very obedient and like probably many of us I had been instilled with the idea of doing well in school. I liked studying and my objective was to do well in all subjects without any particular preference because the goal was the doing well in itself , receive the appraisal and knowing that I was moving in the direction of “success” which also meant for me reducing the worry for my parents about my future. They raised me through the idea of the safety given by a great job and I believed in it.
In this dynamic the place for doing something I loved didn’t crossed my mind until much later.
I was actually seeing an overlap in my head with the definition of doing very well and liking something. I basically liked something WHEN I was good at it. And when I didn’t enjoy it I thought it was because I wasn’t good at it and I had to try harder.
As a consequence of this belief system my productivity was also guided by doing well and get validation.
Everything shifted when I was deep into my Masters in Business School and I was realizing that years and years into the same subjects something still didn’t click. So I tried harder because obviously it’s all about doing things well, and then you’ll like them…. but it wasn’t working.
I was going through the group projects, internships and I still couldn’t fall in love with the core of the job. And I was getting tired. Whatever was supporting my motivation in the past, was gone.
Finally I dissociated the notion of doing a good job from the notion of loving it and then my work motivation pretty much went to zero.
I just couldn’t do it, it was a gigantic effort because I couldn’t lie to myself that I didn’t care about it anymore. No amount of salary or external validation or promotion of fancy benefit would have been able to change my mind.
And looking back that was an amazing turning point and finally an opportunity to tap into my REAL source of motivation, the one that goes beyond the material value exchange and force you to look deeper into WHY you do something.
That’s when things like purpose and passions rose to the surface.
When I wasn’t anymore motivated to become a marketing manager in a company I looked back at what I liked before all of that.
And I remember that when I was a free spirited child, before the opinion of others or the dangers of the world existed, I lived into my imagination and I loved being creative and then put it into writing. I loved emotions, and connecting to like-minded humans and dreaming of a better happier world. I loved beauty and art.
All these things slowly started to make their reappearance in my adult life and bring me a joy I had forgotten about because I was focused on “more important stuff”.
I’m very aware that being able to reconnect with that part of me and start to believe in a different way of working was a big privilege that not many people have.
I obviously didn’t have to worry about survival or dangers like my ancestors did.
I didn’t have to get married at 14 and create a family and kids like many young women in this world have to do.
I had time to be philosophical and reflect on a bigger meaning of life.
Final reflections ….
If we look at the Maslow pyramid of needs, self-fulfillment is at the top and even if I don’t agree we need to take all the previous steps to get there, I do think we need a few of them to be present for us to think about our happiness. If you’re starving your mind is only thinking about where it can find food and definitely not about how it could reduce pollution in your city or make the world a better place.
That is why millennials are the generation that has been exposed to these concepts the most. They noticed how the promise of a happy life given by their parents by following the most beaten path didn’t work for them, it didn’t provide them with meaning.
That’s why so many systems are crumbling at the moment because young people are not willing to set for anything less because they know that something more is possible.
The evidence is out there and the choice is there too.
Which is my way of answering to the fact that us as millennial women are living this awakening of purpose driven careers .
What is your opinion on this topic ? I’d love to know !
NEXT STEPS …
If this article resonated with you and you want to go further in discovering your purpose and find a career that give you joy and meaning it is possible! I coach women every week which are looking for the same thing . I invite you to learn more about my services and book a free discovery call to see if we’re a good fit.
The summer is a busy time for coaching as so many people are signing up to start in September with more clarity and a plan, so don’t hesitate to reach out , I cannot wait to hear from you!
