How to find meaningful work in a post-career world

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Author Bruce Feiler: What makes a good job?

I was raised on the dream of the American middle class: go to school, go to the best college you can, and you’ll be able to pick your career. Inherent in this is my parents’ dream for me, their advice to me: DO WHAT YOU LOVE.

Embedded in this advice is the assumption that you should love what you do. A good job leads to a career and you should find meaning from it.

But now, that philosophy is changing. Those good jobs don’t feel so good anymore. People are burnt out. We’re exhausted from the relentless march to greater productivity. Our paychecks aren’t going as far as they once did. And layoffs are always on the horizon.?

I think here about the advice Elizabeth Gilbert?offered years ago on the very first season of our show: "If you think you're in a career but you hate it and you're bored and it's killing you, quit it and just go get a job."

This idea that it's time to divorce pay from meaning is going mainstream. More of us are less willing to sacrifice everything to the grind. Instead, we’re redefining the idea of work.

Our guest today is Bruce Feiler . His book is called The Search: Finding Meaningful Work in a Post-Career World. ?If I had to boil Bruce’s philosophy down to one sentence, it would be this: A good job is whatever you say it is.

Bruce has spent a career looking at the interplay between life and work, and the last six years specifically collecting and analyzing people’s life stories to better understand what motivates working people and what matters most to them. His book is an excellent tool for anyone at a crossroads, trying to figure out what to do next, or to make sense of what jobs you’ve so far pursued. To start, Bruce offered up three lies he believes we tell ourselves about work today.?

You can listen to the episode here , or directly below:

Join us for Office Hours: What makes a good job?

Just as we do every week, Producer Sarah Storm and I will go live from the LinkedIn News Page this Wednesday at 3pm EST. Bring a coffee if you're on the East Coast. Grab your lunch if you're on the West Coast. Tune in to share reactions to the episode, talk about what's going on in your own career, and check in with other listeners—and us!

Hello Monday is LinkedIn News’ weekly podcast about the changing nature of work—and how we must change to keep up. It's hosted by me, Jessi Hempel . Subscribe to the show's newsletter.

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