In his book How Will You Measure Your Life?, Clayton Christensen talks about how to lead a life that brings both professional success and genuine happiness. One of the 7 key points he makes is that
Motivation trumps money when it comes to job satisfaction
How do you create motivation in your work on a day-to-day basis?
Great thought provoking question @Heli - especially with the New Year. In some fields - like medicine, and human flourishing/flow it feels easy. But even here there can be days when you feel like you are spending more time doing chores than moving the mission forward. When this disconnect between your actions and your impact happens it can really sap your strength. I’ve found 2 approaches that have helped me:
Spending a little time thinking ahead - how will this help move the important mission/what I am motivated by forward. If you’ve got a mentor, or a coach, they can sometimes help you with this.
Sometimes you really can’t connect it (i.e. 1 just does not work). That can sometimes be a strong sign to you that you need to rethink your work. This was why we have the 3 lower rows - priority 1 work, priority 2 work (i.e. work you only do because you are paid to) and chores. Realizing that I spent 80% of my time in 2 and 3 helped me to radically rethink what I was doing. This does not always mean leaving the org (although sometimes it does). There are often a lot of opportunities within your org, but you need to ask for/about them.
it feels easy. But even here there can be days when you feel like you are spending more time doing chores than moving the mission forward. When this disconnect between your actions and your impact happens it can really sap your strength. I’ve found 2 approaches that have helped me: