On Being Useful

May 31, 2026

I’ve been pondering something for the past few weeks.

When I looked at my life on paper, it’s full and intentionally planned. I try to maintain a good schedule, stay active by playing sports and riding my bike, keep up with home maintenance, and even meticulously optimize my meal prep. I make it a point to talk to family and friends regularly. Because life is short and the world can be a heavy place, I try to constantly remind myself to be sweet, caring, and kind to the people I cross paths with.

For the most part, this rhythm works. But lately, my work hasn't been progressing smoothly. And because I have always been an academically driven person, this rough patch sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole.

It made me ask whether its necessary that we get the vast majority of our life's meaning from our work.

The Equation of X

I also teach yoga classes at CMU, and whenever a student comes up after class to tell me they enjoyed the session, it gives me immense satisfaction. So it is convincing that we don't need to derive 100% of our meaning from our main jobs. Work can give you X%, and the rest can come from other aspects of life.

Naturally, I started wondering what that ideal number for X should be. Ofcourse, this varies from person to person, but I wanted to know what are the right factors that will answer the question for me.

The Case for a Smaller X: Job security and relevance are becoming increasingly uncertain, especially now. So I thought it’s practical to design a mindset where your identity isn't entirely tied to a corporate title. A vibrant life outside of work is good to buffer against that uncertainty.

The Case for a Larger X: On the flip side, we spend roughly a third of our lives working. If you're spending that much time on something, shouldn't you care about it? Shouldn't it mean something?

I realised that for me, X was probably around 60%. But when I dug deeper into why I valued that at 60%, I didn't have an answer.

What Drives You?

I asked myself what "meaning from work" actually meant to me. Throughout my years studying and working, what kept me going? I used to think it was something on the lines of intellectual stimulation. But looking closely, I realized a massive chunk of it was actually societal perception.

I wanted to achieve impressive things because society labels them as valuable. Realizing that a huge source of my drive was rooted in external validation was really really uncomfortable. I was sitting with that for a couple of weeks until recently, when something clicked while reading a random post on instagram.

The Power of Being Useful

I stumbled upon a post detailing the common habits of supercentenarians - people who have lived beyond 110 years of age. Amidst the expected notes on diet and movement, one specific word jumped out at me: Usefulness.

The post talked about cultures that embrace Ikigai (a reason for being), where elders keep working well into their final years. They aren't doing it for money, fame, status, or even just to pass the time. They do it because they want to feel useful to their society and their community.

Intellectual stimulation is great, and societal praise is a fleeting dopamine hit, but usefulness is sustainable. When I teach yoga and see a student walk out happy, I am being useful. When I show up for my friends or family, I am being useful.

I don't have a blueprint for how to bring that sense of usefulness into my day job just yet, but asking “How is this actually helping someone?” feels like the right compass to use.

Eventually, as I think about where to take my research and where to go next, I want to steer myself toward spaces where my work can directly and tangibly impact people's lives for the better.