Research suggests fulfilling work is an aspiration available to many / most people, but how do you know you are feeling fulfilled? What is the nature of the experience?
“Fulfilling work is a worthy aspiration for an array of individuals”
(Owens et al., 2019)
As part of my PhD research, I recently conducted a qualitative study with professional midlife women. One of the questions I asked them was “can you say a bit more about the sensory experience of feeling fulfilled? ” The words they used are captured below.
A few things strike me:
- Everyone had experienced ‘feeling fulfilled’ at some point – whether it be a whole role / part of a job.
- The language they used is very coherent – with an overall theme of nature / natural.
- Who wouldn’t want to feel like this?!
- How similar / different might descriptions be for other groups?
Which words / phrases resonate with you?
I also generated an AI by combining images and metaphors kindly provided by all the participants – here is the result…
Personally, I love what they said and feel even more inspired to champion fulfilling work. I am planning to publish more findings from the study soon – so please do watch this space 🙂
Fulfilling work 