The issue of a lack of meaning and fulfilment in work is endemic across the globe today. At the more extreme and severe end of the spectrum, it has been noted in pop-culture that “we work jobs we hate, to buy things we don’t need, to impress people we don’t like” (Palahniuk, 1996).
While this is not a new issue – after all, Henry David Thoreau famously wrote in his nineteenth century book Walden that “most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them” (Thoreau, 1854) – the issue remains as rife today as ever and, left unresolved, can seriously inhibit an individual’s ability to self-actualise and flourish (since work is such a central tenet of many people’s lives), and can have negative flow-on effects for society as a whole.
This paper focuses on how principles and interventions of Positive Psychology may be used to assist that extremely broad section of corporate professionals who are highly educated by global standards (if not also highly talented) – but are consciously or unconsciously suffering from existential malaise and anxiety as a result of being employed in jobs which they experience as being meaningless, unengaging and unfulfilling – in identifying where and how to channel their talents and energies in order to experience meaning and engagement, so as to ultimately flourish and self-actualise.
As a starting point it is important to highlight that there is currently a global epidemic of workplace unhappiness, disengagement and disillusionment, as revealed in numerous recent employee engagement surveys.
For example, in Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2023 report, it was noted that employee engagement remains a significant issue worldwide, with approximately sixty percent of workers reporting as being disengaged (Gallup, 2023). These employees are often those who feel that their work lacks purpose or meaning.
Solving this problem for society at large is important both in terms of reduction of harm to society and in terms of increase in good for society.
In particular, less engaged employees tend to suffer greater mental health complaints and are more likely to engage in negative online and offline distractions as well as anti-social behaviours that can harm themselves and others (for example, alcohol and substance abuse).
As Viktor Frankl notes, “when a person can’t find a deep sense of meaning, they distract themselves with pleasure” (Frankl, 1946).
On the other hand, highly educated and talented individuals who are actually channelling their energies into meaningful and engaging pursuits tend to have the greatest means, capacity and potential to materially help society. So it is ultimately in society’s best interests that individuals engage in work that is subjectively meaningful and engaging to them. Abraham Maslow articulately makes this point as follows:
“The empirical fact is that self-actualizing people, our best experiencers, are also our most compassionate, our great improvers and reformers of society, our most effective fighters against injustice, inequality, slavery, cruelty, exploitation (and also are best fighters for excellence, effectiveness, competence). And it also becomes clearer and clearer that our best ‘helpers’ are the most fully human persons” (Maslow, 1971).
In the context of the goal of seeking to assist disillusioned corporate professionals in finding or creating work that is indeed meaningful to them in order to promote their flourishing, we can take our cues from a number of aspects of Positive Psychology and, in particular, lean on the “Meaning” and “Engagement” limbs of the “PERMAH” model of wellbeing and flourishing identified by the founder of modern Positive Psychology, Martin Seligman.
With respect to “Meaning”, Positive Psychology views this as the extent to which people comprehend, make sense of, or see significance in their lives, accompanied by the degree to which they perceive themselves to have a purpose, mission, or overarching aim in life (Steger, 2011).
In the work context, this entails doing something that is subjectively perceived as being meaningful.
In fact, renowned existential psychotherapist Irvin Yalom notes that a sense of life meaning cannot be pursued, but rather ensues from meaningful activity:
Meaning ensues from meaningful activity: the more we deliberately pursue it, the less likely are we to find it … Life meaning is always a derivative phenomenon that materializes when we have transcended ourselves, when we have forgotten ourselves and become absorbed in someone (or something) outside ourselves (Yalom, 2002).
Viktor Frankl and other notable psychologists, also point out that the realisation of meaning necessarily involves some element of service to others (or at least to a cause greater than oneself) and self-transcendence.
The more one forgets himself – by giving himself to a cause to serve or another person to love – the more human he is and the more he actualizes himself. What is called self-actualization is not an attainable aim at all, for the simple reason that the more one would strive for it, the more he would miss it. In other words, self-actualization is possible only as a side-effect of self-transcendence (Frankl, 1946).
Along similar lines, Martin Seligman himself points out that meaning consists of “using your strengths and virtues in the service of something much larger than you are” (Seligman, 2002), which would appear consistent with a central tenet of Positive Psychology that “other people matter” (Seligman, 2011). In wider circles, this point has been consistently reiterated by 20th century thought leaders including Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi and Deepak Chopra.
“Engagement”, on the other hand, ideally involves experiencing the state of “flow” – where flow is considered to be the intense experiential involvement in the moment-to-moment activity, where attention is fully invested in the task at hand and the person functions at her or his fullest capacity (Csikszentmihalyi, 1988).
In the context of one’s subjective experience of work, flow would involve the total immersion and engagement in a task that an individual is intrinsically motivated to pursue – in many cases irrespective of any external motivators such as money or status.
In the work and business context, those experiencing a deep sense of flow and innate passion for what they do generally tend to become more objectively (and subjectively) successful than those who are driven by external motivators such as money.
This was noted by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos when he stated that “missionaries succeed over mercenaries” due to the fact that they are inherently motivated by their own calling (Bezos, 2018).
So the question therefore arises as to what Positive Psychology Interventions could usefully be engaged to assist disillusioned corporate professionals to find or create work that is subjectively meaningful and engaging to them.
A Positive Psychology Intervention is generally defined as a structured activity or practice designed to promote well-being, enhance personal strengths, and foster a positive mindset (Seligman, 2011) and, in the context of work, Positive Psychology Interventions are considered to be highly effective in helping individuals find or create meaningful and engaging work – through encouraging self-reflection, enhancing strengths, and aligning personal values with professional goals.
First, having disillusioned corporate professionals conduct exercises like meditation and reflection that allows them to gaze inwards to garner their own “innate insights” and to “seek out their own best answers” about what is valuable and meaningful to them, and what their “life mission” may be (without having regard to societal or other “external” expectations) may be a useful initial intervention (Allen, Romate and Rajkumar, 2021).
As Carl Jung notes, “he who looks outside dreams; he who looks inside awakes” (Jung, 1953).
Through guiding individuals through a process of exploring their sense of purpose (for example, writing about what gives their life meaning and how their work could contribute to that purpose) this may help them to see the larger impact or significance of work they might like to pursue – whether it’s helping others or contributing to societal good (as per Yalom’s and others’ observations about self-transcendence), or aligning with long-term personal goals.
Secondly, having them reflect on earlier life experiences that involved carrying out tasks or activities (whether in employment or otherwise) that felt subjectively meaningful to them, and where they felt intrinsically engaged and motivated regardless of monetary or other material reward, (for example, through journaling or guided questions) can help them identify patterns in their past work or activities that were particularly fulfilling, so they can seek to find or create similar opportunities in the future.
Thirdly, having disillusioned corporate professionals take a strengths assessment such as the VIA Character Strengths Survey in order to identify and reflect on their core strengths has been shown to be effective in helping them to recognize their innate strengths and talents – which they can then use to garner greater meaning and fulfilment in what they do (Peterson and Seligman, 2004).
Fourthly, encouraging people to reflect on their core values, what they stand for, and what truly matters to them in both their personal and professional lives allows them to identify or create work that aligns with their values. This is fundamentally important as it can lead to a greater sense of purpose in work – since work that is congruent with personal values is generally considered more likely to feel meaningful and satisfying.
Fifthly, encouraging disillusioned corporate professionals to identify role models or mentors or “allies” who have found meaningful work or who embody the kind of work-life balance they aspire to has been proven to be effective as a positive psychology intervention, as observing others who have successfully integrated meaning into their work – and “self actualised” – can inspire others, and can also provide practical guidance for pursuing a similar path. In this way, role models can act as sources of inspiration and practical advice, making the pursuit of meaningful work feel more achievable.
Sixthly, guiding them through visualization exercises – for example, where they imagine themselves carrying out their ideal work, focusing on how it feels to engage in such meaningful work – can help them clarify their goals and generate motivation to take steps toward their ideal pursuit. This enhances goal setting and can help create a roadmap for moving toward meaningful work.
Lastly, encouraging them to practice self-compassion, especially if they feel stuck or dissatisfied in their current work, through reframing negative self-talk and being kind to themselves during difficult career transitions can reduce feelings of burnout, frustration, or inadequacy, allowing them to approach their career path with more resilience and optimism.
To conclude, it is clear that Positive Psychology Principles – and in particular the “Meaning” and “Engagement” limbs of Martin Seligman’s “PERMAH” model – as well as Positive Psychology Interventions can be instrumental (and necessary) in assisting disillusioned corporate professionals in identifying or creating work that may be meaningful to them. This not only is pivotal to the individual’s own flourishing but also can go a long way towards Martin Seligman’s goal of achieving flourishing more broadly across society.