Two Ways To Think About Career Fulfillment

The fact can’t be denied that career fulfillment is something that many of us desire. However, it is certainly difficult to actually have a meaningful career. We should first ascertain what really makes a fulfilling career. I have been pondering over it and have come to the conclusion that there are different answers. Although they might seem incompatible, I do think to seek different types of opportunities where they may overlap is certainly the best route for career fulfillment. Below we will discuss the two ways to think about career fulfillment:

Economic Viewpoint

Psychologically, we must feel like our career is meaningful if it can fulfill a creative vision. Creative vision could certainly be a cumbersome tool to quantify. However, helping others is not. There is an area of study that could pin this down. That area is economics. Economics can help to equate the notion of allowing others by increasing utility. Within this context, utility means happiness or things that people need. If you are able to enhance someone’s utility, you are allowing them to acquire more of what they desire from life. This may sound close to the original intuition regarding what comprises of a meaningful career. Within this context, a fulfilling career is one that can help to create utility for people. If you are able to spend your life in helping others to obtain what they desire from life, this may seem like a good start. Then how can utility be created? One way is through the means of charity. If you can help individuals without charging for your services, you can certainly increase their utility. This is termed by economists as consumer surplus. As a writer, my career produces a specific amount of consumer surplus. Even if I did want to increase my income and didn’t care regarding helping others, I would have to write a lot of free content for attracting visitors. The free content can result in creating a significant surplus for potential readers. If I do charge any amount for my services or products, I will be required to a similar price for everyone. Some people may value my services a lot more than they have been charged. This may also result in creating a consumer surplus. In summary, if a meaningful career can help people and if helping people is equal to help them get more of what they desire, then you could measure the meaningfulness of your career through the amount of value it generates for others. The quantity can’t be measured. However, a good rule of thumb could be through figuring out the amount you can earn. You can then compare it to the amount you will be paid if you are able to derive the value provided by you. The higher the value in absolute terms, the more fulfilling is your career.

Psychological Viewpoint

It is essential to note that our career choices are determined by more than just the monetary value they add. People may work for extrinsic factors such as money. However, they also tend to work for altruistic reasons such as voluntary work. This is mainly because it provides them fulfillment. Being able to find the most optimum fit for an individual’s personality is pivotal to find “meaning” in what they do for a living. For instance, if you do like to communicate with people, then sitting in front of a computer screen all day is not entirely satisfying. Money isn’t always very fulfilling. Even though the money you earn is subtracted to obtain the consumer surplus created by you. This can certainly be on a magnitude that tends to be similar. Doing a job that is high paying in nature can certainly help more individuals than doing a low-paid job. However, this does not feel right when it comes to fulfillment. Another essential perspective of fulfillment tends to be psychological. Individuals have fulfillment at their jobs when they have authority, respect, and connection with others. Sometimes jobs having these features may pay well but sometimes they don’t. Within this context, getting a fulfilling job is not related directly to a quantifiable measure of helping people. It is essential to just be able to find a job that provides you authority, makes you feel productive and allows you to have a connection with others and is well-respected in the viewpoint of others.

Interlinking The Two Viewpoints

One of the biggest benefits of the economic viewpoint is that it is logically fulfilling. An economic viewpoint is not similar to helping others. Moreover, the amount you earn does not always illustrate the financial or economic value that you may provide. However, it does provide an essential starting point for you to think about it. The biggest benefit of the psychological perspective tends to be that it can be emotionally fulfilling. It doesn’t need calculations to work out. It just requires you to work towards creating authority, competence, social connection and respect in your personal career. The biggest benefit of the economic viewpoint is that it helps to redeem monotonous jobs that can produce indirectly value. There are various jobs that may provide financial or economic value. However, they don’t directly interact with the beneficiary. Other jobs can also help to provide value. However, the benefits are disseminated broadly. As a result, you don’t view the influence concentrated on different individuals.