Is Work More Pizza or Broccoli?

We all want to find more moments of fulfillment in our work and in our lives. That statement feels obvious, I know. And yet, finding that sweet spot, the place where what we do feeds us instead of drains us, can be surprisingly elusive.

Especially when you…

• Work for someone else and feel disconnected from the bigger picture
• Have a job you don’t love but can’t yet leave
• Or even when you work for yourself, you feel depleted or overwhelmed trying to make it all work.
  

So, what does fulfillment actually mean? And how do we find more of those moments? This was a recent exploration that, per usual, began with a food metaphor.

Sometimes, we eat something that tastes good in the moment but isn’t nourishing to our bodies, and if we ate like that regularly, there’d be consequences. Think Friday night pizza and ice cream!

Other times, we do the opposite: we choose something that checks the nutrition boxes but leaves us totally unsatisfied—eating on autopilot, disconnected from pleasure. I see you dry chicken breast and steamed broccoli.

But then there are those magical meals that are both delicious and nourishing. 

That, to me, is fulfillment.

And it made me wonder: Can we find more of that in our work and in our lives?

Here’s where I landed in my journal.  

Separate fulfillment from achievement. 

We often measure success by our output, like the crossed-off to-do list, the completed project, the promotion, the validation, and the accolades. And yet, we can “achieve” all the things and still feel strangely empty, unsatisfied, even burned out.

Especially when the work we’re doing depletes our energy. When it feels like an obligation instead of inspiration. When there’s a little pit of dread in our stomach before we even start.

Let’s be real. It’s called “work” for a reason. There will always be stressful projects, challenging moments, tedious tasks, and things you don’t love doing. That’s part of the deal. But within all of that, there are also breadcrumbs of joy, small, soul-aligned choices, micro-moments that light you up:

A conversation that sparks laughter or connection
A stretch of deep, creative flow
A piece of feedback that makes your heart swell because it made an impact. 

These breadcrumbs may only make up a small portion of your day, but when we notice them, name them, and even track them, they begin to grow. Awareness amplifies the nourishment.

Bring Your Whole Self to Your Work. 

I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with clients who work so hard to keep their personal and professional selves separate, mostly for protection. Which I understand. Yet what could it mean if you allowed a tiny bit more of yourself to show up in your leadership, relationships, and creative expression at work? 

Often in our jobs, we do things the way we think they should be done, or the way we’ve always done them. This makes it difficult to truly see the small ways we could make our work more meaningful by bringing more of ourselves into it. Your kindness, your quirky interests, your humor, your music taste, your beliefs, your rituals, your stories, your love of cooking, your unique superpowers.  People feel more connected to you when they feel like they get to see and know little things about you- that you are a superfan of a certain sports team or TV show. That you

When I started training crews at TUT, I tried to be very professional. But after a bit, I decided to infuse my love of poetry and ritual into the training- just like I did as a teacher.  I started finding poems to read to the crew at the end of training sessions or daily meetings. Technically, the time I spent finding poems isn’t part of my job, yet it made the experience more fulfilling and has since become a favorite part of the crew experience. I do not love making training slides, but I love finding and reading the right poem, and that is the balance of fulfillment. 

Invitation to Reflect

How could you bring more of yourself into your work that could make it more fulfilling? If you’d like to explore this more deeply, try this:

Step 1: Keep two lists for a week:

• List One: Your breadcrumbs of joy, flow, and connection
• List Two: The things that feel draining or create a sense of dread
  

Step 2: Reflect on the why behind each item.

Step 3: Explore the common themes with a journal, a trusted friend, or a coach, and identify one or two baby steps you can take to create more of what nourishes you and less of what depletes you.

Here’s to finding, creating, and experiencing more moments of fulfillment.