If you are satisfied with life, then career achievements are not far off. Personal purpose makes a person happier and healthier. Those who have a purpose in life are less prone to age-related mental disorders such as dementia. And older people who know why they live are 50% less likely to suffer strokes. We tell you how meaning in life can help you at work.
How personal and career goals relate
In 2020, McKinsey & Company, an international consulting firm, conducted a study examining the impact of personal goals on the workplace. The reason for this was the changes caused by the pandemic, which have manifested themselves in almost every industry.
Company representatives interviewed more than 800 working people of different ages in the United States. It turned out that achieving individual goals allows people to work more productively and increases their satisfaction with their position, company, and job duties.
According to the results of the survey, experts identified several basic types of goals:
- achievement of success (influence, status, material income);
- care for the environment;
- opportunity to help family, relatives, and friends;
- self-improvement, self-knowledge, and self-realization;
- preservation of high social approval and reputation;
- the opportunity to feel a sense of belonging to a social group, national culture, traditions, history;
- gaining new impressions and experiences;
- preservation of a sense of order and stability;
- the achievement of equality and justice.
Of course, a person’s goals are not always limited to these types, and more often than not, several of them are combined in one personality. Under the influence of the environment, goals may change.
When a person feels that they are moving toward a goal, they are four times more engaged in their work and feel five times more secure, according to the study.
A positive attitude toward work and greater productivity, in turn, greatly increase an employee’s chances of being promoted. The authors of the study point out that there is a connection between the involvement of employees and company profits. However, this does not always mean an increase in employee salaries.
Researchers believe that an individual goal is especially useful in hard times. It helps to take the uncertainty and stressful situations more easily and to recover from them more easily and quickly.
The authors of the theory of goal setting Edward Lock and Gary Latham proved that goal-setting also contributes to the development of perseverance and perseverance. And that goal setting affects productivity, Locke wrote back in 1968. But it is worth saying that at that time the researcher understood goals less broadly – rather than as tasks.
What to do to make personal goals work for you
For work tasks and personal aspirations to combine as effectively as possible, company and employee goals should coincide. That is, every day when you get ready and come to work (or when you open your laptop at home), you should understand that it helps you to achieve your goals.
In employment
The average employee has practically no influence on the purpose of the company. That is why it is better to define the meaning of life beforehand, and afterward to make sure that the chosen place of work corresponds to your priorities and it would be good to know how to correct a w2 form. Thus, many companies prescribe in their vacancies not only the duties of the future employee and his working conditions but also the corporate values. As you review the ads, judge how close they are to you.
For example, if freedom and self-realization are very important to you, you will like to work where the management does not control every step of the employee. And if you want to devote your life to taking care of your family, look for a company where work-life balance is easy to maintain.
In addition, the authors of the study from McKinsey & Company believe that a successful combination of work and personal goals is possible where the team is characterized by trust and great cohesion.