This episode is part of the Happiness Reset at Work campaign, where Klaudia introduces you to 5 drivers that contribute to building more satisfaction in our careers so that you can reconnect and re-energise with your work in 2025. 

The 3rd driver of happiness at work is: Purpose.

Klaudia expertly articulates the concept of purpose, framing it as the underlying reason for our daily efforts and a key driver of engagement. Listeners are encouraged to reflect on their own roles, considering questions that probe their motivations and aspirations.

Hello happiness seekers. My name is Klaudia and you are listening to the Happiness Challenge.

And in those quick episodes I bring you the science, each driver with a set of reflective questions, some hands on ideas to implement in your working life, and a piece of expert advice. If you are up for receiving a summary of each driver, follow me on LinkedIn and join my new substack newsletter.

Also make sure you get free tickets to a webinar on the science of Happiness at Work that I'll be hosting in February.

And finally, if you would like to dive deeper, join my new masterclass program online to build your individual action plan to create more fulfillment and impact at work.

There are only 15 places available and you can sign up at happinesschallenge.co.uk courses and in today's episode, we are diving into a third driver of happiness, one that I think resonates with many of us because we spend lots of time at work. And that is the significance of having purpose at work and how it can lead to happier life. And first thing first, what do we mean by purpose?

Generally, purpose at work is the reason behind what we do. It often goes beyond our daily tasks, our daily responsibilities, and very much taps into a core of why we show up every day.

And having purpose at work can be about goals that align with our values. It could be about contributing to something bigger, or it could be about finding joy and satisfaction in the work that we do.

And research shows that individuals who feel a sense of peace at work are much more engaged, motivated and satisfied. So my question is, but why is that? Why is it that having that sense of purpose really moves us forward?

And if we have a look at science, there are lots of studies that suggest that if we have a clearly defined purpose at work, it can lead to greater emotional resilience. That is, if there are challenges at work, there may be some setbacks. We might be going through some difficult times.

Understanding what is the purpose behind this helps us to stay more resilient.

One set of studies showed that individuals with a strong sense of purpose in their work reported lower levels of stress and anxiety, which naturally translated to increased happiness.

And additionally, having purpose at work often leads to better performance because when we understand how what we do at work every day contributes to the larger goals of organizations or society, we are more likely to go above and beyond. And this feeling of making meaningful contributions definitely boosts our motivation and engagement.

Now, for a very long time, I actually personally struggled with the concept of purpose because it always seemed very vague and not very tangible when it comes to, you know, daily meetings, daily priorities. But what helped me to think about that sense of purpose every day at work is to link it specifically to my values.

So for example, for me, one of my values at work is learning. So as long as I am learning at work and enabling other people to learn, I see a purpose in my work.

Even though some projects don't go ahead, even though there are changes, even things don't go according to the plan, if I'm learning and other people are learning with me, then that's okay. I can see a purpose in that.

And of course, for some of you, it might be about creativity, it might be about innovation, it might be about making a very practical difference in people's lives. It might be that you care about community engagement, or you might be caring about environment.

But understanding what values you have and then being able to align our tasks responsibilities with those values, it can really help us to feel that sense of purpose and therefore experience that sense of motivation, fulfillment and also makes it make it more enjoyable and interesting. Definitely. At work, being true to our values predicts positive well being.

So again, there's quite lots of studies that show that if we are acting in line with our values, especially intrinsic values such as personal growth, kindness, integrity, we can increase our happiness and well being in the long run. So to reflect further on the concept of purpose at work, think about the following what is the purpose of your role in one sentence?

Why is it what you do important? What drives you at work? What does being ambitious at work mean to you? What would be a meaningful goal to achieve in your role?

What impact would you like to have at work?

So have a bit of reflection and hopefully by looking at your answers you can piece a little bit more more about your sense of values, your sense of purpose at work. What does that mean specifically to you? So thank you so much for listening to the Happiness Reset at Work campaign.

I hope you are keeping with the pace. If you enjoyed today's episodes, as always, please subscribe, Leave a review, share it with someone who might benefit from it.

If you are interested in finding out whether our work can make a difference in the world, listen to episode 126. Seven hopeful headlines. Finding optimists with Fix the News because absolutely what we do in the world really very, very much matters.

So listen to that episode to really think about that positive impact we can have. I hope to see you in the next episode 140 where I will share practical hacks to increase your sense of purpose at work.

So until next time, have a great week with purpose. Bye.