2210: How to Choose Your Purpose-Filled Career by Leo Babauta on Meaningful Work

[00:00:01] Pink Panther us here. Coach and Spotify are teaming up to bring music and style together, and they want you to be part of it. Grab your friends and head to the Tabby Tour, hitting cities around the country with live performances from special artists, exclusive experiences, and personalized products. And discover custom playlists on Spotify, built just for you based on who you are and how you listen. Live your story with Coach. Learn more at Coach.com.

[00:00:29] This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome? That's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required compatibility and availability varies 18+.

[00:00:54] This is Optimal Work Daily. How to choose your purpose-filled career by Leo Babauta of zenhabits.net. The other day, I was thinking about what advice I'd give to my teenage son and nephew as they think about what work they want to do in the world as they grow up. And at first, I thought of the usual ways people think about it. When people think about choosing work that's filled with purpose, they often do it in one of several ways.

[00:01:20] One, think about what they like to do. If they like writing or playing video games or doing crafts, they might consider these things. This is not a bad way to go, of course, but you can't always make money doing things you like, like video games, smoking or drinking beer. And sometimes things you like are better as a hobby or side passion.

[00:01:40] Two, think about what pays enough that they can do and that doesn't sound so bad. Maybe a doctor, engineer, lawyer. Or maybe that's out of your educational reach, so you choose teacher, office work, retail worker, or landscape work. These and many other possibilities are all great choices, but often it's not something you're really passionate about. It's kind of like just doing something because it's there, not very inspired.

[00:02:06] And three, you're already doing it. If you somehow got a job to make money but didn't do it that consciously because you had no idea what you want to do, you might still be doing that years later. It's your default, so you keep doing it. That's not super inspired either because often you're just clocking in. So these common ways are not horrible ways to choose a career, but there's another way that is perhaps better. Try to do something to help others or make the world better that you might enjoy.

[00:02:34] Before you move on, consider the possibilities of serving others or making the world a better place. 1. Volunteering to help the elderly, the homeless, underprivileged children, disaster relief, building homes for the homeless, taking care of animals, etc. 2. Becoming a doctor or nurse or massage therapist or physical therapist or fitness trainer because you really want to help heal people or make them healthy.

[00:03:00] 3. Taking care of children, teaching or studying child counseling because you really want to help children get a great start in life or blossom into who they want to be. 4. Becoming an entrepreneur or learning to program and then starting an app company that will change the world in a better way. 5. Getting into government or social work to improve the conditions of the community you live in. 6. Writing or coaching or teaching people online to help them solve their problems and improve their lives.

[00:03:30] 7. Making fun spaces, restaurants, activities, hikes so that people can find joy in their lives. 8. Becoming a yoga or meditation teacher so people can find peace in their lives. 9. Becoming a scientist to help alleviate the environmental crisis or find a cure for a terrible disease. 10. And so on. Each of these are just one of many possibilities of making someone's life better, of serving a community, of making the world better.

[00:03:59] Each of them is filled with purpose. And if you choose one of them for that purpose, you will serve in that work feeling a sense of purpose each day. There are endless ways to do that, of course. You could be a manager that serves a team. A customer service representative that puts smiles on people's faces. A web designer that helps businesses shine online, and so forth. The point isn't how you serve the world, but just serving the world in some way will help you feel filled with purpose.

[00:04:25] If you choose a purposeful job that also seems like fun, that seems enjoyable, you're way further along than most people. It doesn't have to be a typical job either. You can volunteer or create something that doesn't exist in your area. A place for peace and relaxation. A place for adults to play. A place for animal lovers to connect to each other. You could just connect other people of similar interests and make their lives better through connection and community.

[00:04:50] These don't seem like typical jobs, but I bet you that if you serve people in these and other ways, you'll eventually find a career doing that. A career that feels purposeful and beautiful. It can take a while to actually make a living doing it, but it will very likely happen. And even if it doesn't, you still served people in a wonderful way and were happy doing it.

[00:05:14] You just listened to the post titled, How to Choose Your Purpose-Filled Career, by Leo Babauta of zenhabits.net. PinkPantheress here. Coach and Spotify are teaming up to bring music and style together, and they want you to be part of it. Grab your friends and head to the Tabby Tour, hitting cities around the country with live performances from special artists, exclusive experiences, and personalized products. And discover custom playlists on Spotify, booked just for you based on who you are and how you listen.

[00:05:43] Live your story with Coach. Learn more at Coach.com. This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome? That's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required.

[00:06:12] Compatibility and availability varies 18+. And thank you to Leo. His site, Zen Habits, is all about finding simplicity and mindfulness in the daily chaos of our lives. It's about clearing the clutter so we can focus on what's important, create something amazing, and find happiness. It has over a million readers and was named one of the top 25 blogs by Time Magazine. And if you enjoy his work, come on and check out our other shows where we also narrate more of his content since he writes on so many different subjects.

[00:06:40] You can find all of our shows by searching for Optimal Living Daily wherever you get your audio, and then hit subscribe or follow in the podcast app you're using to get new episodes daily, or come by oldpodcasts.com to see all the shows we have and learn a lot more about our network. So that's going to do it for today. Hope you have a great one. And thanks again for following or being a subscriber to the show, and then sharing it with others when you can. And I will see you back here tomorrow for another episode, and that is where your optimal life awaits.