Discovering a higher purpose in professional life

Some Reflections after a long professional career

After having spent around 30 years since my graduation in professional life, I have beeen reflecting on what I could have done do make it more fullfilling. Day-to-day professional life is highly transaction oriented with several daily battles being fought at peer, management, client level etc. I felt high with the small victories and low with the small defeats / setbacks.

Professional life itself is a subset of the overall life in general. If the day-today life is 100% occupied around transactional matters, it can rarely become fullfilling. Spiritual development is itself about discovering certain higher realities from the day-to-day transactions

Applied to professional life, an understanding that the purpose of the professional role is not just to earn a living or recognition , but understanding the place of ones profession in a broader context. If we undertake some efforts to understand the ecosystem around our professional roles in that how they relate and impact to the complex network of entities around us, it will lead us to a better understanding of our roles in a broader / universal context. I believe that this is the only way to achieve professional fullfillment

If I am an engineer who helps businesses getting their products built better and faster, then I am having a very significant impact on the industry and society on the whole. My contention is that one needs to take specific efforts towards understanding the most fundamental questions - who am I? how do I relate to the world around me? How do I impact is positively / negatively ? These are not just spiritual quests -- these are questions that need to be answered on on ongoing basis towards a fullfilling professional life. And if this is done effectively, one need not really expect any recognition from others.