It’s always nice to have a sense of purpose in your work. But francopoli‘s comment got me thinking: the value of the education you invested in shouldn’t be the job you have now. That value is only inherent to your experience being educated, and what you carry away from that experience. The job you got afterwards is usually a result of much more significant variables than your schooling.

So when it comes to aligning your job with your passions, I think it’s more important to ask, “What aspects of your life outside of your jobs are meaningful?” When you get off work, what are you doing with the life-hours you haven’t already given to the company and your self-development? What are you spending that capital on and what is it worth to you?

I can’t generalize on this but personally, a lot of my free time, aka my time to actually live my life outside of work, is wasted on unpacking, or preparing for the next day. That is not a meaningful way to live a life, I just happen to not be concerned because my circumstances are temporary.