Recently, I came across this amazing interview where Ali Abdaal interviews Steven Bartlett. Ali is a productivity expert, YouTuber, podcaster, entrepreneur and author. Steven is an entrepreneur and the host and founder of the famous podcast channel ‘The Diary of a CEO' and the author of the book by the same name. The takeaways were superb, and I highly recommend this video to you if you are interested in a freelance career or entrepreneurship.
Principles of Career Happiness
In this video, Steven mentions five points for career happiness:
Challenge: Jobs should become incrementally more difficult to keep people motivated.
Progress Principle: You need to feel a sense of forward motion in your career. Even small improvements or wins can boost motivation, create a positive team environment, and contribute to the feeling of progress.
Subjectively Meaningful Goal: You should have a personal reason that makes you feel your work is worthwhile. Employees should have a personal reason for working at a company. These reasons will vary from person to person, but each employee should feel that the work is worthwhile.
Autonomy and Control: Employees need to feel like they have autonomy and control over their work. Lack of autonomy can negatively impact both physical and psychological well-being.
Supportive Community: Employees need to work with a group of people that they like. This can make difficult or challenging work more bearable.
Steven argues that these five points are more important than the particular career or job. When these elements are present in a job, it can lead to a sense of balance and fulfilment.
Ali Abdaal then outlines his own framework for enjoyable work, which he calls "Feel-Good Productivity". It is built around three key elements, which he calls the "3 Ps": Power, Play, and People.
Power: Ali Abdaal's concept of "Power" actually combines a few different elements:
Autonomy and Control: This echoes Bartlett's emphasis on autonomy and is a key theme in Ali's book, "Feel-Good Productivity". He believes that feeling in control of one's work and having a sense of ownership over decisions leads to greater empowerment and job satisfaction.
Improvement and Progress: Experiencing a sense of improvement, growth, and "levelling up" within one's work contributes to a feeling of "Power".
Play: Ali sees "Play" as an important, though not strictly essential, element of enjoyable work. This is explained as work should feel light, and not a burden. If you can approach work with a spirit of playfulness, lightness, and ease, you can experience greater joy in your tasks.
People: This is related to the vital role of positive social connections in creating a fulfilling work experience. The "People" element of this framework is about working within a supportive community of colleagues who are enjoyable to be around.
In addition to these three core components, Ali's book also explores the idea of Purpose, which he considers as "alignment" with one's core values. Although 'Purpose' is not explicitly a part of the "3 Ps" framework, Ali acknowledges its significance in creating a sense of meaning in one's work. But interestingly, he says that he deliberately put "Purpose" at the end, because if you start with finding "Purpose", or start with the "Why" (a la Simon Sinek), then there is a risk of getting overwhelmed. How do you start finding a purpose in a not-so-grand job? I completely agree with this. Sometimes, you just need to get going, start doing, and perhaps think of some superficial and shallow why's, and once you have the other aspects mentioned above going well for you, then you can contemplate the "purpose" and then on it will keep you going, and your journey may also redefine it in return.
My experience with disability and freelancing
I have been working as a freelancer for a while now, and I consider myself deeply satisfied with my career. I haven't really given it enough thought to analyze the factors at play. This partly stems from my belief that every individual's path is unique and my understanding of what works for me may not extend to someone else or be applicable in another situation.
I also did not set out to become a freelancer. I have always juggled multiple life roles all my life, which demanded significant amount of engagement (as opposed to nominal roles). It actually took me many years to realize I was working on various kinds of projects for free when I could get paid for them. When I start getting paid projects, then I discovered I was doing something called 'freelancing.'
Reflecting on my career satisfaction, I realize that it aligns with the principles outlined by Steven Bartlett and Ali Abdaal. I expand upon these frameworks below to explain how they resonate with my experience as someone managing a freelancing business with chronic pain and disability.
Challenge
Working for myself allows me to select projects that not only interest me but also push my limits. I focus on challenges that are incremental yet stimulating. For example, a legal editing task might push me to learn legal jargon, while writing an essay on a psychology topic lets me explore the human mind. Helping an author with their research sends me down amazing rabbit holes, while creating educational materials lets me explore pedagogy in context of neuroscience and psychology.
Living with chronic pain often demands careful energy management. I am not greedy, and I don't bite off more than I can chew. Each assignment is an opportunity to grow without tipping into overwhelm. I have achieved the balance that is needed for my family, personal life, work and health. And I take on interesting projects that teach me new things and help me push my boundaries of knowledge and skills.
Progress Principle
From improving the quality of my work to steadily growing my client base, small victories help me stay motivated. Living with a disability means that progress might sometimes be slower or very different from the mainstream perspective, but it is meaningful to me. There are days when chronic pain might make any forward motion seem monumental. Each completed project or skill enhancement is a triumph that I cherish.
Subjectively Meaningful Goal/Purpose
Purpose takes on a profound dimension when living with disability. The sense of alignment between work and values is something I have always recognized as crucial. In fact, I have always considered the sweet spot of work happiness as an intersection of work, personal values, and aptitude.
I’ve built a career that reflects my passion for education, mental health, science and technology, and creative expression. It aligns with my innate aptitude as well as my interests in the skills I want to develop. This alignment makes my work more meaningful and helps me navigate days when physical discomfort might otherwise diminish my motivation.
When I started freelancing as a profession, I tried to think of my purpose - my 'why.' I was doing so many different disparate kinds of things, doing them well, but I didn't have a unifying purpose. After giving it much thought, I realized that so far, I had been thinking of the purpose in terms of fields of work or fields of study. That is how I had been brought up to think.
I realized that my sense of purpose was a more overarching mission statement than a passion for any particular line of work. I understood that my purpose has always been helping someone solve a problem, feel happier or better, or get better at something. Thus, Eniokos was born, where my work is about helping someone with a challenge they are facing. The purpose my colleagues feel may be different, but this is my 'why.'
Autonomy and Control
For someone managing fluctuating physical health, autonomy is invaluable. Both Bartlett and Abdaal emphasize the importance of control over one’s work, and freelancing gives me exactly that. I decide my working hours, methods, and environment. This flexibility enables me to adapt my schedule to my energy levels, ensuring that I can deliver quality work while taking care of my well-being.
Supportive Community
I work with a small team and also have a network of extremely supportive and loving friends. We share work, resources, celebrate wins, and provide support during tough times. I can not only discuss family, life, problems, joys and sorrows, but also philosophy, technology, science, psychology, education, politics, cuisine, movies, music, books and myriad other things with my inner circle, which is something not everyone has in their life.
Play
Ali Abdaal’s “Play” framework is another aspect I definitely understand. I approach tasks with curiosity and as a learning opportunity. I find my work 'fun.' Disability and illness don't constrict my arena of play. I know how to make a bouquet with the flowers that life gives me.
Living with chronic pain has taught me the importance of boundaries and self-care. If you’re disabled and considering freelancing, it’s crucial to:
Raise the bar for your skills, but stay mindful of your capacity.
Even small wins matter.
Choose meaningful work that aligns with your values and aptitude. You can keep expanding your skills, but you must like the direction first.
Pacing is important, as every chronically ill person knows. Take regular breaks and manage your workload to avoid burnout.
Build and lean on a supportive community of colleagues, friends, or other freelancers.
Finally, I would say that being disabled already puts you on a path less trodden. If you start a freelancing business, you are walking an uncharted course, that is unique to your situation, abilities, and opportunities. You can use these ideas, but eventually, the framework that will work will be yours, customized to you. I found a career that is sustainable and personally rewarding, and so can you.
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