Our life as we know it continues to change, and although we are adjusting to a new state of normal, there is still a sense of apprehension and unfamiliarity clouding our day-to-day lives. Throughout this pandemic, we have all had to juggle our home and work lives coexisting under the one roof as we continue to work remotely. But beyond this logistical challenge, the changes to our way of life are also raising questions about our sense of purpose, belonging and identity.
A sense of purpose is what motivates us to get out of bed each day. It drives our emotions, thoughts and behaviours. A sense of purpose helps us to stay on track and gives meaning to our day-to-day lives as we strive to achieve both short-term and long-term goals. However, with all the changes we have been experiencing over the past few months, many of us are feeling lost, challenged, isolated and perhaps lacking direction. Where most of us would usually feel a sense of drive to accomplish tasks and reach desired outcomes, the monotony and repetitiveness of our current routines and environment may be hindering our enthusiasm and motivation as we instead wait around for our lives to return to ‘normal’.
With the changes and challenges to the way that we work, there is no doubt that our connection to our team and organisation has been impacted. Less face-to-face interactions and physical contact with peers is making it more difficult to maintain our sense of purpose and belonging at work. As human beings, part of our sense of identity includes the relationships that we develop and the role that we play in those relationships. This includes not only the role that we play with our family and friends, but also our identity as an employee, a colleague and a team member within the ecosystem of our organisation. With our work identity currently being challenged and in many ways evolving, we are left questioning ourselves and looking for opportunities to redefine our sense of purpose and sense of identity.
With this experience we have been given an opportunity to look inward, reflect on what is important to us and focus on what we are passionate about. In exploring these questions, many of us will have identified a desire to learn something new or develop new skills. Whether following a lifelong passion, or upskilling to support our career progression, many of us are utilising this time to invest in ourselves. In setting ourselves the goal of developing a new skill, we are doing more than just giving ourselves something to achieve. A commitment to learning and developing new skills has the potential to have a significant positive impact on our wellbeing. Focusing our attention on something positive – such as learning a new skill - will help us to be more resilient and maintain a sense of fulfilment during this time of adversity. Despite the media hype, it is important to emphasise that we shouldn’t feel pressured into ‘up-skilling’. For some people, focusing on their family and becoming a more present parent, or even organising the household, is just as important and relevant to their sense of identity.
For many, work is perceived as a source of meaning and stability, positively contributing to their sense of purpose and identity. As the current circumstances continue to disrupt the way that we work it is up to each of us to find our own sense of purpose in every day. Although the current restrictions are predicted to be lifted soon, and we are quickly shifting our thoughts to returning to work, there is still an opportunity to redefine our sense of purpose. If anything, this experience has given us all greater life perspective, and highlighted that we should focus on what is important to us and fulfil our own potential.