This year, we are going to start the reflection with our occupational wellbeing.

For those who work full time, we spend roughly 35% of our waking hours at work.

This doesn’t even include commuting.

This is why starting with our work is a good analysis of our wellbeing.

Asking questions like: Are we happy with our current job?

Is our workload sustainable?

In last year’s post, we explored 5 dimensions of occupational wellbeing.

Meaningful work, balance, atmosphere, relationships, and growth.

This year, as I look at this list, I might make changes to those categories.

I would shift the list to the one below and move “growth” to intellectual wellbeing.

Dimensions of Occupational Wellbeing

Meaningful Work: We want the work we do to matter. To make a positive impact on the outputs, our team, and our company. We don’t need to love everything we do, but we do need to know it matters.

Level of Engagement – This one asks the tough questions to understand our interest in our current work. We explore if this company and role is right. Are our strengths being leveraged and do we look forward to coming to work.

Fit with Life Vision – The third category considers if our job fits with the vision of the life we want to lead. We can consider things like working hours, location, atmosphere, co-worker relationships, commute, salary, and more.

Personal Branding – The final category is focused on our personal brand or reputation. We can consider what we have done to highlight our strengths, build our network, and start to become a thought leader in our field. This also starts to tap into creating career insurance – tomorrow’s post.

2024 Reflection Questions

As you reflect on 2024, here are some questions to consider:

  1. Three words I would use to describe my work this year are:
  2. My top 3 accomplishments this year are:
  3. Two things I learned through courses or experiences are:
  4. Was I engaged in my work this year or was I just going through the motions?
  5. Does my job align with the life I want to lead? If not, what isn’t a fit?
  6. What work have I done to position myself well if I am part of a company layoff?
  7. What have I done to develop and grow my personal brand?