Summary.    There are times in our lives when our identities as workers collide with who we are as people. That brings up big questions about our purpose, values, and decisions that cut to the core of who we want to be in this world. To help...

Questions about work, life, and meaning are nothing new. How do we define our purpose? What can help us make or process a big change that affects who we are and what we do? How should we navigate challenges, big and small, as workers and as humans?

The feature article in this Big Idea series recommends that you identify your values and goals by applying a strategic framework to your own life, which will help guide you through pivotal moments — both planned and unplanned — and tough times. This article adds to our ongoing coverage of how work and meaning intersect — and why it’s worth stepping back to ask yourself the deep questions about what really matters to you.

We are sharing ideas from the HBR archive to help you dig into some of these questions. Each article and podcast episode was chosen by an HBR contributor or editor and includes a personal story recounting why it was meaningful to them. We hope you find something that can help guide you when you need it most.

. . .

How Will You Measure Your Life?

by Clayton M. Christensen

It’s hard to overestimate the impact “How Will You Measure Your Life?” has had on people. The late Harvard Business School professor Clay Christensen had been discussing the ideas in the article with students for years before one of us, Karen, then-editor of Harvard Business Review, asked Clay if we could turn his celebrated “last class” into something for the magazine. At its core, the concept is simple: Understanding business theories can help predict the consequences of the choices you are making in your life. For example, if you understand the theory of resource allocation then you’ll understand that consistently spending extra time at work, instead of spending time with your family, may lead to professional success but it’ll most likely result in strained family relationships.

Once HBR published the article, feedback flooded in. Clay was inundated with calls and notes of gratitude from all over the world. We both personally know people who have changed careers, started their own businesses, or refocused their lives around their families after learning these ideas. Just the other day — more than 13 years since the article first appeared in HBR — someone shared with Efosa the gratitude he felt that Clay’s article had “provided a life roadmap for [him].”

So, how will you measure your life? It’s a question neither of us had contemplated until we met Clay. He always said that good theory allows you to put a new set of lenses on, to see things differently. That happened to us. As a result, we, too, used these ideas to recalibrate how we defined success and changed our own career trajectories, which eventually included the honor of working together on what would be Clay’s last book, The Prosperity Paradox. We consider it a gift that we were introduced to Clay and his theories. We hope you will, too.

— Karen Dillon and Efosa Ojomo, coauthors of The Prosperity Paradox and HBR contributors. Dillon is also a coauthor of the book How Will You Measure Your Life?, which followed the original HBR article.

. . .

Values, Passion, or Purpose —
Which Should Guide Your Career?

by Irina Cozma

When it was time to decide on a career path in college, I chose to follow my passion for writing. I knew studying journalism wouldn’t land me the highest-paying jobs, and that I might feel more fulfilled pursuing a different path. But I truly loved telling stories that make an impact. I sometimes wonder if I made the right choice — would I be happier if I’d prioritized my values or purpose instead of my passion for writing? You’ve probably asked yourself a variation of this question, too. This article reminds us that there’s no “right” or “wrong” answer. It’s about finding balance between the things you love, the things that drive you, and the things you can’t live without.

— Kelsey Alpaio, HBR senior associate editor

. . .

Be a Better Leader, Have a Richer Life

by Stewart D. Friedman

I read this article (and book) early in my career. Because I was ambitious, I had felt guilty about pursuing anything outside of work — despite my strong interest in several volunteer causes and excitement about a new romantic relationship. Friedman’s work made me realize that all of these parts of my life were both individually important and mutually reinforcing. That gave me the freedom to step back a little from work and to practice leadership on a nonprofit board, enjoy spending time with another human, and just take a deep breath (even before “self-care” became a cultural watchword).

— Ania Wieckowski, HBR executive editor

. . .

To Make a Change at Work,
Tell Yourself a Different Story

by Monique Valcour and John McNulty

There is power in the stories we tell ourselves and others about our lives. Stories can shape our thinking and inform our behavior. But what if the stories we’re telling ourselves hinder us from pursuing new goals or doing things differently? What if they make us second-guess our abilities or not take chances? That almost happened to me when I told myself, “I could never be a good editor. I’m a hotel management graduate; I haven’t studied literature or journalism.”

Thankfully, someone told me a different story about myself. So this article really resonated with me. It showed me how stories can be constraining instead of liberating and how we can reimagine our stories to help us move in the direction we want to go. For me, the first step was to change my narrative. Instead of telling people, “I’m trying to be an editor,” I said, “I am an editor.” Editing out just three words made all the difference.

— Vasundhara Sawhney, HBR senior editor

. . .

To Reduce the Strain of Overwork,
Learn to Listen to Your Body

by Stephanie J. Creary and Karen Locke

I often live in my head, spending hours ruminating about work and wondering whether I’ve put in enough time and effort to please my boss, my colleagues, and myself. This article, which looks at the impact yoga training had on people experiencing signs of overwork, was my wake-up call. I recognized how much stress and tension my body frequently held as my mind spun, and how I had been neglecting to heed these signals — to the detriment of my work and my life in general. It also showed me that it’s possible, as the authors write, to “catch [myself], pause, and pull back from overwork.” I could create an identity outside of my job, find “third places” to share my love of physical movement with others, and listen to my body as well as my brain.

— Gretchen Gavett, HBR senior editor

. . .

New Chapters

Dear HBR podcast

Neither of us had ever hosted a podcast when we launched the workplace advice show Dear HBR in 2018, but we loved the time we spent together (nearly three years and 80 episodes) in front of microphones. When the show was ending in late 2020, producer Curt Nickisch suggested we tape a farewell episode. The topic, appropriately enough, was “New Chapters.”

Curt arranged for author and speaker Bruce Feiler to join us. Bruce, who’s written books about unexpected life transitions, calls these events “lifequakes.” “These are important times when we [not only] look at the next job, but [also] use them as an opportunity to kind of rethink and reimagine and revise the stories that we tell about our lives,” Bruce told us as we read and discussed letters from listeners experiencing their own transitions.

For Dear HBR listeners, and for us as the hosts, the episode provided a satisfying coda to the podcast, which was itself an unexpected chapter in our careers. After Dear HBR’s finale, Dan went back to magazine editing, but Alison continued on as a podcaster, cohosting HBR’s IdeaCast. Looking back on the more than 200 listener letters we discussed during the series’ run, one recurring theme stands out: Unexpected twists are a feature of just about every modern career.

— Alison Beard and Dan McGinn, HBR executive editors