How Do You Know If You Have Purpose at Work?

As we transition into a new year, many of us take the time to reflect on where we have been and where we need to go. Richard Leider, who has spent a lifetime coaching executives, gives us some guideposts on how to know if you are fulfilling your life’s purpose at work.

He recommends asking yourself the following questions.

What Are Your Gifts?
Ever since I was a child, family, teachers, mentors and friends have told me I have a special gift. Do you use that gift at work? Do you have an opportunity to display this gift every day? Do you play to your strengths? What are you naturally drawn toward? What do you do at a high rate of speed? What do you do and after you do it, you feel great? What separates you from other high achievers at your workplace?

Am I Myself?
He suggests imagining you are on your deathbed and still in your right mind. Your best friend asks you did you make a difference in the world. Were you authentically you? Did you show up at work daily as you real self? Did you have to leave a piece of yourself at the door? Did you have to cover up something your colleagues would not embrace in you because you did not feel safe?

How Did I Wake Up this Morning?
Did you dread dragging yourself into work or did you enter your workplace with energy and purpose? Is work a place to be or a state of mind for you? Are you doing something that is bigger than yourself by performing tasks that truly matter? Is it about performance for you or purpose? Do your day-to-day activities have any meaning? Are you inviting yourself to a brighter tomorrow?

Are You Curious?
Are you a continuous learner? Do the differences others bring into the workplace make you more interested in them? Are you inquisitive enough with others to gravitate toward them by suspending judgment even if you do not agree with their world view? Do you do your best work when others who are different from you are included in your efforts?

Are you able to get better at something that matters? Do you have that drive to develop and enhance yourself to make a difference in an ambiguous and constantly changing workplace?

If you wrote your resume like your obituary, would employers see enough purpose about you to offer you a job?