
Make meaning your vocational goal - pseudolus
https://hbr.org/2019/07/why-you-should-stop-trying-to-be-happy-at-work
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nickthemagicman
I've found I can really dig in to any task no matter how trivial, offered to
me at work and get enjoyment out of it. The work part of work is the funnest
part. The issue the makes work unpleasant is PEOPLE and the inherent
complications that accompany that. Managing up and managing down. Politics,
poor leadership, meetings to plan other meetings, open offices, promotions
based on allegiance instead of skill, office parties that are a pretense, I
could go on etc, etc. If I could just work...that would be glorious, but
people always seem to get in the way. Maybe like Sartre I'm a misanthrope and
'hell is other people' for me. This emphasis on 'teamwork' over creative
individuality and self-expression these days really just bugs me. It's also
early and I'm just drinking my first cup of coffee.

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bitL
Remote work is your friend.

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badpun
The meetings won't go away, you'll just have to join them over Skype/Hangouts
- with shitty audio where you're guessing what people in the room are saying
half of the time.

However, I think that, for people who really despise meetings and all the
coordination with other people, startups are a place to be. There's just way
less stakeholders there to allign for any given initiative, plus the founders
are super-conscious about wasting time and money, so they minimize devs
involvment in meetings that could be handled solely by management/product
people.

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czbond
I disagree with the focus on the work part as useful - due to the focus of
society. A high majority of human effort and focused work is non-useful to a
singular goal of evolving humanity, and therefore not fulfilling. Repurposing
a society solely built around evolving humanity - where each person's
individual actions contribute to a collective improvement would solve this
issue.

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bigred100
My opinion: meaning comes from religion and philosophy, not a job. Do a
reasonably good job at work and take your career seriously, but don’t think
it’s something that it’s not.

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tempguy9999
Honest Q: where does that leave me as an atheist?

As one such, the only meaning I can find in life is "it's about other people,
and sentient creatures. Treat them well"

There is nothing else.

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bigred100
Well then you have to figure out what treating someone well is. Which probably
takes a lifetime and more of living and studying religion and philosophy. And
then a lifetime of getting yourself to actually do it.

~~~
__blockcipher__
I would argue that treating someone well doesn’t require a lifetime of book
study.

Rather it requires the opposite, to see the person fully as what they are
_right now_, and to respond accordingly without a trace of ideology. To do
anything else is to be engaging with your idea of the person, and your own
idea of what is “good”, rather than what actually is.

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sethammons
tl;dr: happiness is fleeting. Seek meaning in work. It leads to fulfilment.
People will take less pay and work a job longer if it is meaningful.

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onemoresoop
Abaolutely but with a limit. Dont seek your life meaning in work, try to have
a life outside of work as well.

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bradleyjg
Different strokes for different folks. Some extraordinary people poured
everything into their work. Might not be for you or me, but doesn’t mean it’s
the wrong way to live.

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drngdds
The unspoken prerequisite to all of the advice here is to have a job where you
can spend a nontrivial amount of time doing things that feel deeply meaningful
to you. I doubt most people have that.

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inimino
Anyone can seek meaning in their work, regardless of the circumstances.

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egdod
The title is a little bit clickbait. What she’s really getting at is more
like—the way to be happy at work is by finding meaning in your work.

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hkai
Besides that, the whole article feels like a collection of platitudes.

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hamilyon2
I sometimes see this traditional, but somehow unpopular opinion, that is only
required meaning of work is to bring bread home.

Meaning in life, however, comes from different things: family, spare time. It
is called thus work-life balance.

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around_here
Sounds like just another capitalist shill piece where they tell you that
happiness will only be achieved through finding “meaning” in your work instead
of being well paid, with benefits, good management, and good coworkers.

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agentwiggles
I'm reminded of a CEO who, when our small consultancy was acquired by the Wal-
Mart of our industry, insisted that the acquisition would benefit us all
because we'd have "more cool projects." He never said anything like "you will
all be paid more"!

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benjaminbrodie
He must have hawt wife. I envy him so much lol. If only I could be a CEO. Just
think of it from the girls angle lol. Damn my life is such a disappointment
lol. May as well eh whatever lol

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dang
Could you please stop posting unsubstantive comments to HN? You've been doing
it a ton, and we ban accounts that do that.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

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pi-squared
This is shifting the problem - there is no meaning so whatever you say to
yourself will be your meaning. It's the same as deciding to be happy - the
moment you decide to be happy, you are happy. Done.

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chrisbennet
Well I've always been happy at work. So I don't think happiness is fleeting
for everyone. "Work" is really work if you like what your doing.

