Sparking Joy at Work: Creating Connections

Work and joy might not seem synonymous, especially when you’re on your 5th Zoom call of the day and haven’t taken a moment to step away from your screen since you opened your laptop. 

It’s true–work can be tedious and grueling, but it has the ability to make us feel fulfilled and part of something larger than ourselves. And while it’s easy to lose sight of that, it’s just as easy to find ways to bring ourselves back to that feeling. It doesn’t take huge, sweeping changes, although you should explore those if you’re looking to chart a new career path or take a break entirely to travel the world. 

But, if you’d like to incorporate small moments of joy into your workday that have a big impact, you can start with a simple intention: to create connections.

There are many layers to connection–from connecting with yourself and your purpose, to connecting with mentors or mentees, to connecting with communities–which means there are almost infinite possibilities for this to help spark joy.

Connect with Yourself and Your Purpose

Earlier this year, I wrote about the importance of finding purpose at work. This requires introspection and reflection, which we often don’t afford ourselves. We get caught up in the busy-ness of work and life and forget this fundamental element that will help us create joy and fulfillment in our lives. 

It might seem overwhelming at first, but you can use the Japanese concept of ikigai to guide you. 

This centers around four questions:

• What am I good at?

• What do I love doing?

• What does the world need?

• What can I be paid for?

Taking time to answer these prompts can help guide you on your path, and inspire joy on your journey. It will help you define the things you might need to start, stop, or change about your current situation to get you where you aspire to be. 

Take this a step further by inviting colleagues to explore their own ikigai and share your findings with each other. You can help one another by holding each other accountable to actions you pledge to take to help get you closer to aligning with your ikigai. 

Connect with Mentors or Mentees

One other way to spark joy is to connect with those around you. You can invest in mentoring someone in your network to help them on their journey, or you can invest in yourself by finding a mentor to help you unlock your own potential. 

We often discover a lot about ourselves in mentor and mentee relationships, and we feel a sense of joy in the deep connections we can make through our conversations. Nurturing such relationships can bring about unexpected insights or open up new pathways in our professional lives. 

The benefits of mentorship are myriad, and range from increased job satisfaction to skill development and positive company culture. It’s an activity that has far-reaching impacts with ripple effects beyond the direct mentorship relationship. It’s a recipe for joy in the making.

Connect with Your Community

Helping others is a proven way to bring joy to ourselves. Whether it’s helping out at a food bank or volunteering to help school kids develop skills, having an impact on those around us plays an incredibly important role in our own well-being. It shows us that we are part of something larger than ourselves and can remind us that we can use our skills to better our communities. 

You can also connect with your community within your organization. Find people who have similar interests to you and start an Employee Resource Group or affiliation. Create initiatives to help people connect with each other, like an informal coffee chat series or a lunch-and-learn with different teams in your company. Host events where people can share their skills, passions, and aspirations to help you get to know one another better. 

In short, there are so many simple ways to create connections to spark joy in your life. Make a commitment to do one of these and reflect on how you feel after a few weeks or months. Are you feeling joy more consistently than before? 

Keep building on the momentum you develop, and you might be surprised about the long-term benefits. 

For more insights on work-life well-being, check out Make Work Healthy and my coaching solutions, or schedule a consulting call with me.