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Life's Great Question: Discover How You Contribute To The World

Book by Tom Rath · 4 quotes · Happiness At Workplace, Contribution To Society, Serving Others

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Life's Great Question: Discover How You Contribute To The World Quotes

“You can begin by connecting your daily efforts to they way they contribute to specific people's lives — connecting what you do with who your work serves. ... 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 in the moment with a larger influence on others.”

“A growing body of evidence suggests that the single greatest driver of both achievement and well-being is understanding how your daily efforts enhance the life of others…the defining of a meaningful life are ‘connecting and contributing to something beyond the self'.”

“Don't get me wrong; devoting time outside of work to serving others is a great idea. Recent research suggests that people who do so — by volunteering in their communities, for example — have better health and wellbeing, and perform better at work. Having a clear purpose beyond paid work also has a buffering effect. If your entire identity is wound up in a job that could go away, your wellbeing is in constant jeopardy.”

“The time to be asking tough questions about whether you can make your current job into a sustainable worklife is as early as possible. Start with a very basic question: Who can, does, or will eventually benefit from my efforts? See if you can answer with the names of actual people, not abstract groups. ... A commonality I have observed, across professions, is that your contributions come into clearest view as you get closer to the beneficiaries of your work. The more you can learn about a person who directly benefits from your time and effort, the more motivation you will have to improve that person's life in the future.”