+1: #1095 How to Meaningify Your Work

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Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Optimize plus one. In our last plus one we talked about making a purpose upgrade. Going from a grand conception of one big purpose for life purpose purpose 1.0 to finding micro moments of purpose all day every day purpose 2.0. I promised to chat about how to go about doing that today. So here we are. Let's bring Tom Rath back for some more wisdom from Life's Great Question. Tom is a senior scientist at Gallup and shares some fascinating research he and his colleagues in the well being at work industry have conducted. Tom tells us, and I quote, you can begin by connecting your daily efforts to the way they contribute to specific people's lives, connecting what you do with who your work serves. There are now countless examples of how connecting your work to the meaning it creates for specific people leads to better results as well as to more enjoyment in and satisfaction from one's work. He continues by saying, in food service, for example, when a cook where someone preparing food can literally see the people they serve, it increases that customer satisfaction with the meal by 10%. If the cook and customer can both see one another, satisfaction with meal quality goes up 17% and service is 13% faster. You see a similar result across other professions. And he says when lifeguards read stories of people's lives being saved, they are more vigilant on the job. When telephone based fundraisers hear from the beneficiaries of their work, they are far more motivated and raise far more funds for their cause. Even when the only people you serve are internal customers or colleagues, connecting the work you do with the direct contribution it makes has tangible benefits. Plus, he says in a Harvard study, field workers who harvested tomatoes watched videos of the way their contribution helped colleagues in the factory another step down the supply chain. In comparison to a control group, the workers who watched this short video experienced a 7% increase in productivity as measured by tons of tomatoes harvested per hour. Pause and reflect on that for a moment longer. That's nuts. Finally, he tells us, my takeaway from all this research is that people experience a far greater sense of belonging and more sustainable well being when they connect their efforts and in the moment with a larger influence on others. And that's today's plus one Spotlight on you. What do you do? Who do you serve? When you do what you do, take a moment and actually identify a specific person who you know benefits from the day to day things you do. Seriously, one person could be a colleague, a customer, whoever. One person you know benefits from what you do. You got it? Fantastic. Let's reflect on our contributions often remember, people experience a far greater sense of belonging and more sustainable well being when they connect their efforts in the moment with a larger influence on others. 1 micro moments of service 1 micro moments of service 1 micro Moments of Service all day every day for the purpose 2.0 meaning filled life starting today.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Optymyze with Brian Johnson. To find out more go to Optimize Me.

Hey guys, this is Brian with a quick little P.S. i'm really excited to let you know about an event we're working on. Plan is to make it the premier self optimizing event of 2020. Recalling it optimize 2020. You the modern hero. Basic idea. Five days, 101 world class luminaries. One million people. You can learn more and get your tickets to the online and offline event at Optimize Me 2020. Again, that's Optimize Me 2020. Hope to see you there.