Weekly Coaching Tip: Ten Tactics Regarding Work
Strategies for Redefining Purpose and Navigating Professional Disillusionment
[Throughout the first half of 2026, I hope to provide you with a robust picture of how existential wellness coaches work with their clients on fundamental existential issues. If you’d like to learn more about the Noble-Manhattan Existential Wellness Coaching Certificate Program that I’ve developed, please visit here. There are scholarships available and all of the resources of the Noble Manhattan family. Come take a look. Today’s offering is Part 4 of a mini-series on work as an existential problem. Enjoy!]
Here are ten coaching tactics that coaches can use to help their clients deal with the existential problem of work.
1. Clarify Sources of Meaning Beyond Work
Maya, a 34-year-old accountant, told her coach, “I sit at my desk and think, ‘None of this matters.’ I feel like I’m wasting my life.” Her coach acknowledged her despair and then invited her to widen her lens by asking: “What parts of your life do feel alive, or even just slightly meaningful?” Maya mentioned hiking with her kids, cooking for friends, and volunteering at an animal shelter. Her coach gently highlighted how much meaning she was already making outside of work. Together, they discussed how to cherish these dimensions more fully. Maya realized her job could be understood as the platform that funded a meaningful life, rather than its primary source of purpose.
2. Reframe the Nature of Work
Darius, a delivery driver, came to coaching saying, “My job is just meaningless busywork.” His coach offered up the following reframe: “What if we saw work not as the thing that has to feel meaningful, but as an exchange — your effort for stability or opportunity?” Darius reflected that his job provided health insurance for his ill partner and allowed him the free time to practice guitar. By repositioning work as a transaction, he could relieve himself, at least somewhat, from expecting it to be profound; and instead appreciate what it made possible.
3. Explore Values Alignment
Angela, a mid-level manager, felt restless: “I don’t see how my work connects with who I am.” Her coach asked her to list her top five values. She named creativity, fairness, compassion, learning, and autonomy. Comparing these with her current role, she saw little overlap. Together, they explored options, including taking on mentorship duties and considering a transition into nonprofit leadership. This process helped Angela see her work dissatisfaction less as a personal failure and more as a mismatch of values.
4. Encourage Meaning-Making Within Current Work
Samuel worked in customer service and confessed, “It’s just complaints all day long.” His coach asked: “Is there a way to approach your role that could feel meaningful, even in small ways?” Samuel decided he could reframe calls as opportunities to practice patience and compassion. He also began mentoring a new hire, which gave him a sense of contribution. The coach emphasized that while the job itself remained difficult, Samuel’s meaning-making within the role did appear to give him a renewed sense of purpose.
5. Strengthen Existential Tolerance
Patricia, a paralegal, longed for deeper purpose but couldn’t afford to leave her firm. Her coach said, “Part of existential wellness is living with the fact that not every domain of life will feel meaningful at every moment.” They worked on tolerating this “gap” without spiraling into despair. Patricia began journaling about the difference between her job and her broader life. She came to see that she could live authentically even while her work felt flat, so long as she invested in meaning elsewhere.
6. Connect Work to Larger Life Purpose(s)
Victor worked in IT but was passionate about environmental activism. He told his coach, “My job doesn’t matter compared to the climate crisis.” The coach asked, “How does your work support your activism?” Victor realized that his salary enabled him to donate, organize, and attend climate marches. His coach helped him craft a life project statement: “I work in IT to fund and fuel my climate activism.” This linkage transformed his relationship to his job from meaningless to instrumental.
7. Examine Identity and Self-Worth
Helen, a marketing professional, confessed, “If my work doesn’t feel meaningful, then I feel like I’m meaningless.” Her coach helped her disentangle self-worth from occupation, asking, “Who are you besides your role at the office?” Helen named being a mother, a friend, a musician, and a community volunteer. As she spoke, her sense of identity expanded. Over time, she learned to view her marketing job as just one facet of her identity and no longer the sole determinant of her self-worth.
8. Cultivate Agency and Choice
Tom, a barista, complained: “I’m stuck here forever.” His coach challenged this: “Let’s list every possible choice, even if some seem impractical.” They brainstormed: staying put, applying for management, starting a side hustle, enrolling in classes, or saving for travel. Seeing these options laid out, Tom felt a shift: he wasn’t quite as trapped as he thought. His coach stressed that existential freedom doesn’t mean that all choices are easy, but that acknowledging agency can itself prove meaningful.
9. Introduce Existential Practices
Renee felt invisible in her clerical job. Her coach suggested an existential journaling practice: each day, she would write one reflection about how she experienced meaning or its absence. At first, entries read, “Nothing mattered today.” But after weeks, she noticed glimmers: “Helped a colleague find a file — she was grateful.” “Took five minutes at lunch to watch the clouds.” This practice sharpened her ability to notice small but real meaning moments, even amidst monotonous work.
10. Support Career Transitions, If Desired
Carlos, a 45-year-old project coordinator, admitted: “This work drains me. I want something more.” His coach didn’t rush him into change but asked: “What does ‘more’ mean to you?” Carlos envisioned teaching. They mapped a gradual transition including taking night classes and conducting informational interviews. The coach reminded him that no job guarantees eternal meaning but affirmed his freedom to pursue alignment. Carlos felt empowered, rather than reckless — ready to chart a course toward more meaningful work.
More next week!
[I hope that you’re enjoying this series. Please check out the Noble Manhattan Existential Wellness Coach Certificate Program and my latest books, Brave New Mind and Night Brilliance.]
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