According to The Undefeated Mind, by Alex Lickerman, defining your mission at work and at home can lead to more resilience in the face of life's upheavals. Dr. Lickerman defines your mission as whatever you feel most excited about contributing to the world around you.
This mission will be different for everyone. For me, when I'm at work, the "mission" that turns me on the most is to improve morale for the technicians who operate our production lines. This ISN'T my job description. I'm supposed to improve production results to improve profits, not morale. But there is enough overlap that I can put a lot of my energy into reducing frustration and tedium for factory workers, into making them feel confident and skilled and in control, and this makes my work feel more meaningful and important to me than it would if I focused solely on manufacturing cost. And having this sense of purpose makes it easy to cope with the inevitable project failures, budget cuts, difficult people, and other obstacles that we all encounter in our jobs.
I have different missions for the other roles I play in life outside of work. My missions are unique for me, but they aren't special. They are no better than what another person might choose for their own lives. Alex Lickerman's advice is that, for each role you have in life--each context you find yourself in daily such as work and home--you think through the question "What is my mission here? What way of contributing to the world outside myself is most fulfilling for me in this part of my life?" And then keep reminding yourself about that mission every day.
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