Benjamin Todd

If you prioritize making a valuable contribution to the world first, you'll develop a passion for what you do.

You'll become more content, ambitious, and motivated.

This is what we found in our career advising.

For instance, Jess was interested in philosophy as an undergraduate and considered pursuing a PhD.

The problem was that although she finds philosophy interesting, it would have been hard to make a positive impact within it.

Ultimately, she thought this would have made it unfulfilling.

Instead, she switched into psychology and public policy and became one of the most motivated people we know.

To date, thousands of people have made major changes to their career path by following our career advice.

Many switched into a field that didn't initially interest them, but that they believed was important for the world.

After developing their skills, finding good people to work with, and finding the right role, they've become deeply satisfied.

Here are two more reasons to focus on getting good at something that helps others.

you could be more successful.

If you make it your mission to help others, then people will want to help you succeed.

This sounds obvious, and there's no empirical evidence to back it up.

In the excellent book Give and Take, Professor Adam Grant argues that people with a giving mindset end up among the most successful.

This is both because they get more help and because they're more motivated by a sense of purpose.

One caveat is that givers also end up unsuccessful if they focus too much on others and burn out.

so you also need the other ingredients of job satisfaction we mentioned earlier, and to set limits on how much you give.

It's the right thing to do.

The idea that helping others is the key to being fulfilled is hardly a new one.