A More Practical Question About Meaningful Work
People often ask, “How do I find what I love?”
The question matters, but it can also keep us waiting for a perfect answer. It suggests that meaningful work is something we should discover fully formed before taking action.
In reality, every career includes difficult, repetitive and uncomfortable work. A role is not fulfilling because every task feels enjoyable. It becomes meaningful when the problems are worth solving and the contribution matters to us.
This leads to a more useful question: What problems am I willing to solve repeatedly and well?
Passion Is Often Discovered Through Exposure
Clarity rarely arrives through thinking alone. We discover our interests by entering different environments, trying unfamiliar work and paying attention to what gives us energy.
The useful signals are not limited to enjoyment. Notice:
- which problems keep your attention even when they are difficult;
- what kind of improvement feels meaningful to you;
- who you naturally want to help; and
- which challenges make you curious rather than defeated.
These questions reveal more than a list of favourite activities. They help identify the type of value you want to create.
Meaning Can Grow From Contribution
For a trainer, meaning may come not only from presenting knowledge, but from helping people change what they believe is possible. For a designer, it may come from turning confusion into clarity. For an adviser, it may come from helping families make more confident decisions.
The work still contains problems. The difference is that those problems are connected to a contribution the person values.
This perspective can also help organisations develop and retain people. Career conversations become more useful when they move beyond job titles and ask what problems an employee wants to become better at solving. The answer may reveal opportunities for stretch assignments, mentoring or a different career path within the organisation.
Purpose Also Requires Healthy Boundaries
Meaningful work does not mean taking responsibility for every outcome. This is particularly important in roles that involve teaching, coaching, leading or serving others.
You can guide, teach and create the best possible conditions, but you cannot make another person choose change. Your responsibility is to offer value with skill and integrity. Their responsibility is to decide what to do with it.
Accepting this distinction protects both effectiveness and energy. It allows professionals to remain committed to their contribution without measuring their entire sense of purpose by another person’s response.
Run a Better Career Experiment
Instead of asking, “Is this my passion?”, use a practical experiment:
- Get closer to the work. Take on a project, speak to someone in the role or seek a short-term experience.
- Identify the daily problems. Look beyond the title and understand what the work actually requires.
- Observe your response. Notice which difficulties you are willing to practise through.
- Assess the contribution. Consider whether the outcome matters to you.
- Repeat in different environments. A wider range of experience produces better evidence.
What you repeatedly solve becomes part of your expertise. Expertise, applied to meaningful problems, creates value.
Final Thought
Do not wait to discover a perfect passion. Start discovering the problems you are willing to solve well.
At PLUS Mindset Academy, individual coaching helps professionals clarify their strengths, priorities and next career steps, while our corporate solutions support organisations in developing purposeful, capable people.
Related Reading
This article expands on an original insight shared by Sharon Tan. Read the original LinkedIn discussion.