The National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being defines our occupational dimension as "cultivating personal satisfaction, growth, and enrichment in work," and fostering "financial stability."
Dr. Barry Schwartz, author of the book, Why We Work, invites us to consider whether our work is:
- a job: we might feel limited in our levels of meaning, discretion, and engagement but we work to pay our bills
- a career: we experience increased degrees of meaning, discretion, and engagement in our work, and we strive for advancement
- a calling: we feel motivated, happy, satisfied, engaged; our work forms part of our identity; we sense we make an impact
All three scenarios are equally important and valuable.
Dr. Isaac Prilleltensky emphasizes that part of our well-being derives from "meaning" and "mattering." We can explore "meaning" in our spiritual well-being dimension. With respect to our occupational well-being dimension, Prilleltensky explains that "mattering" derives from "feeling valued and adding value." Let's consider whether and how we feel valued at work, and whether and how we add value.
Prilleltensky also invites us to explore the concept of occupational fitness: fostering a good fit between our work environment and our strengths, talents, personalities, values, and dreams.
Dr. Richard M. Ryan and Dr. Edward L. Deci, the originators of "self-determination theory" (SDT), identify three psychological needs each of us possess:
- competence: knowledge that we can handle tasks and our environment, and that we can direct outcomes
- autonomy: a sense that we have the power to make choices and exercise control
- relatedness: a feeling of meaningful connection to other human beings
In examining our occupational well-being dimension, let's consider how our work environments help (or possibly hinder) our sense of competence, autonomy, and relatedness.
Let's also consider when and how we exercise deliberate practice in our work (practicing our grit), and when we experience the awesome state of flow.