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If youre in an unfulfilling job or are dissatisfied with your work, its possible to get a fresh start no matter what the season. In fact, there are a few strategies that can help you find meaning and enhance your experience even as you slog forward. A lack of fulfillment in your job can have intense effects. It can derail your motivation, your energy, and even your performance. And these, in turn, get in the way of your happiness at work and can impact your overall happiness outside of work too. For many people, it’s hard to find meaning at work. In fact, half of workers in the U.S. reported that they lacked satisfaction in their work, and 38% said their job was just a way to get by, according to the Pew Research Center. In addition, half of people globally say their job fails to give them a sense of meaning, based on a survey by PwC. So how do you create meaning when you lack it? And how do you set up the conditions for fulfillment in your work? Here are a handful of strategies that will make a difference. Stay dedicated One of the key ways to improve your experience at work is to stay dedicated to it. Its tempting to check out, and it can be tough to devote yourself emotionally to a job that isnt satisfying. Still, do your best to perform well, participate in meetings, show up on time, and follow through on your work. Sometimes we wait to feel satisfied with our jobs before we get motivated to perform well, but research published by the Association for Psychological Science shows that employees who approach their work with optimism, dedication, and focus are more productive and more engaged. Their positivity ends up creating an upward spiral. When you repeatedly behave with dedication, it will become a habit, with each action taking less conscious effort. Youll also send yourself a message that your work matters. And even more importantly, that you matter. In addition, behaving with dedication will affect how you perform and how others evaluate your contributions. When these are positive, it will pave the way to your next role and the greater meaning it will bring. Find allies Another surefire way to increase the meaning in your work is to connect with colleagues and build a sense of community. One of the primary symptoms of work that feels unfulfilling is being disconnected from others. If you dont know your coworkers well or dont feel like they know you or your work, it can make the work itself feel empty. Having friendships with colleagues is tremendously helpful for finding satisfaction and happiness at work. A study published in the Journal of Theoretical Educational Science found that friendships are strongly correlated with both happiness and satisfaction, explaining more than a quarter of the differences felt by happy and satisfied people. Additional research from KPMG finds that 84% of people say friends at work are very important to their mental health on the job. In addition, there is a 20% friendship premium in salary to have friends at work: Specifically, 57% of people would choose a role that pays 10% below the market instead of a role that’s 10% over the market for the opportunity to work with close friends. Find people that you can admire and learn from. Invite them to coffee and consider asking them to mentor you or provide advice focused on your future. Also look for colleagues with whom you have things in common. Connect based on your shared interests or the projects youre working together on. Set goals and take action It can also help to reframe your current role as a stepping stone. Identify where you want to go next and how this role helps you get there. It may be teaching you skills that can help you in your next job, and it could even be an opportunity to learn more about what you dont want as you move forward. Both of these are constructive as you expand your self-awareness and your focus on whats next. Consider what else you need to learn, both in terms of more formal education like classes or informal approaches such as learning on the job or from others. The process of taking action is also helpful to your mental health because it reinforces your agency and helps you feel more empowered. Persevere through todays challenges and focus on the future so you can keep moving forward. Focus on the holistic Another way to bring more meaning to your work, surprisingly, is to create the conditions for happiness outside of work. In fact, there is a proven spillover between life and work. In a longitudinal study of almost 162,000 people published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior, those who were happiest outside of work perceived greater happiness with their work as well. The bottom line is that you can increase happiness and satisfaction in your work by considering your life as a whole and finding meaning and joy outside of work. Do things you love with your family, enjoy time with friends, volunteer in your community, mentor youth in your area. These kinds of activities will contribute to your overall sense of meaning and positively affect your perceptions of work as well. Ultimately, having a greater sense of meaning at work is one of the most important experiences to be concerned about, given how much time we spend working. We all have an instinct to want to matter, so when you stay dedicated, find allies, persevere, and think holistically, youll improve not only your work but your life as a whole.
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Having a baby isn’t cheap, but sometimes, even the delivery alone can be a crushing burden on families. According to a new survey, even moms who are insured can end up saddled with medical debt that adds to the financial stress of growing a family. What To Expect, a website that provides new and expecting parents with resources, surveyed 3,285 women on their experiences with labor and delivery charges. The research found that one in four moms have gone into debt due to the costs associated with giving birth. The survey found that, on average, moms are leaving the hospital with around $3,000 in debt. And that’s before the baby expensesdiapers, formula, daycare!start piling up. According to the respondents, even women with insurance are ending up with hefty tabs from the hospital. Almost half (48%) with self-purchased insurance plans say theyve gone into debt due to the costs. Almost a third (32%) of moms with employer-provided plans had the same experience. Furthermore, 18% of moms with Medicaid ended up with debt from out-of-pocket labor and delivery expenses, even though Medicaid is designed for low-income families. While worrying about how you might pay off a rather large and unexpected hospital bill is something a lot of families aren’t prepared for, new moms have another consuming task (aside from trying to figure out how to care for a new human 24/7): the weight of deciding when to go back to work. Given there is no federally mandated maternity leave that ensures moms have time to rest, recover, and bond with their new babies in the U.S., for many, a return to work happens quickly. According to a 2024 report from the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health, one in four new mothers go back to work just 10 days after giving birth out of financial necessity. Aside from the strain on their bodies, which are still recovering, that early return isn’t great for new moms’ mental health, either. Women who return to work before the 12-week mark are at an increased risk for developing postpartum mental health challenges, like postpartum depression, according to a 2021 study from Harvards T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Women who have at least 12 weeks of paid leave were 30% less likely to report depressive symptoms, the study found. In most other countries, returning to work almost immediately is practically unheard of. In fact, the U.S. practically stands alone in its lack of mandated leave for new mothers. On average, moms receive 19 weeks of paid maternity leave, according to a 2023 study of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, including the United States. The United States is the only country of OECDs 38 member countries that does not guarantee any paid maternity leave.
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Star Treka franchise that famously promotes the philosophy Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations”is being accused of “becoming” too woke. Last week, White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller shared a post from the X account End Wokeness that featured a short clip from the premiere episode of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Tragic. But its not too late for @paramountplus to save the franchise. Step 1: Reconcile with @WilliamShatner and give him total creative control. https://t.co/HRMDcYeBnU— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) January 16, 2026 The clip showed cast members Tricia Black (playing Lt. Rork), Gina Yashere (Lura Thok) and Holly Hunter (Nahla Ake). The caption read: Star Trek 2026 Beyond parody What sparked the vitriol? Three women talking. Miller went on to describe the current state of the Star Trek franchise as tragic and suggested that Paramount+ should bring back 94-year-old William Shatner, who played Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek from 19661969, offering him full creative control. On Monday, Shatner responded. I am so on the same page with you @StephenM ! he wrote on X. I am so on the same page with you @StephenM! The fact that they have not cure Hyperopia by the 32rd Century is an abysmal oversight on the writers!Also @paramountplus needs to up the budget because Im sure that a well oiled organization like Starfleet in the distant https://t.co/96MtYUGGWf— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) January 19, 2026 The fact that they have not cure Hyperopia by the 32rd Century is an abysmal oversight on the writers! he joked. The sarcasm clearly went right over Millers head, who followed up with another post. Paramount screwed up royally when they decided to kill off Kirk in Star Trek Generations, he wrote. @WilliamShatner disagreed strenuously but was a team player and out-acted everyone in the film. But its not too late for Paramount to make amends with Shatner and save the franchise, he urged. Do it! Paramount screwed up royally when they decided to kill off Kirk in Star Trek Generations. @WilliamShatner disagreed strenuously but was a team player and out-acted everyone in the film. But its not too late for Paramount to make amends with Shatner and save the franchise. Do it! https://t.co/YORaoM0JEV— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) January 19, 2026 Many Star Trek fans were quick to point out Millers anti-woke hero is the same actor who famously took part in the first interracial kiss in U.S. television history, during Star Treks original run in the 1960s. They also pointed to Millers fundamental misunderstanding of the show, whose progressive values have long been light-years ahead of its time. Fans have recently shared their concerns across Reddit forums about what Trump ally David Ellisons takeover at Paramount might mean for the Star Trek franchise. Do you think the shows will continue to be liberal/socialist filled with science, diplomacy, democratic solutions, and human rights? one user mused. Will they devolve into combat based popcorn fair? Will they straight up become positive analogs for the current administration? Or racial allegories in the bad way? [Photo: John Medland/Paramount+] Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, created by Gaia Violo, premiered last week on Paramount+. It has since become the target of review bombing from those accusing a show about aliens of being too woke. Earlier in the month, Elon Musk also shared a post featuring the same clip. He wrote: Turns out they banned Ozempic and LASIK in the future lol. Actress Tricia Black responded on Instagram with the caption, Ive seen this exact same comment probably 100 times already so whatever but its nuts that the richest man in [the world] felt the need to steal the joke. It doesnt get to me because I am comfortable in my skin most days but this one made me laugh. She then quoted the shows original creator, Gene Roddenberry, who famously said: “Star Trek was an attempt to say that humanity will reach maturity and wisdom on the day that it begins not just to tolerate, but take a special delight in differences in ideas and differences in life forms.
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