Ready to trash the traditional career success script?

Bruce Feiler explores how to find meaningful work in a post-career world

Joanne McHugh

Nov 11, 2025

Cover of the book "The Search: Finding Meaningful Work in a Post-Career World" by Bruce Feiler — Click the cover image to go to Bookshop.org, where you can select a local bookstore to support. Your online order will be filled directly by their distributor, and the full profit from your purchase will be sent to your bookstore of choice.

“Fewer people search merely for work these days. More people search for work with meaning. We’re moving from a means-based economy to a meaning-based economy. For generations, Americans have been fed a narrow definition of success. That script was passed down by our parents, encouraged by our neighbors, reinforced by our culture. These days, more of us are turning our backs on that playbook. We’re questioning its values and challenging its assumptions,” according to Bruce Feiler.

“Each of us is grappling with our own internal definition of success. We have a roiling assortment of homilies, parables, truisms, and beliefs, some imprinted on us by our families and inscribed on us by our surroundings, but more chosen by us from our role models and forged by us from our wounds. The best way to understand these stories is as a kind of scripture, a sacred treasure that each of us tries to live up to even as we try to break free from it,” said Bruce Feiler.

”This book is about learning to identify that scripture. Tapping into it at the defining moments in your life so that you don’t waste your time chasing someone else’s dream. You chase your own dream. That leads to the final step on this journey: taking control of your own work narrative,” said Bruce Feiler.

“In these pages, I explore the idea that each of us has what I call a work story, an ongoing, unspoken narrative that we’re constantly revisiting and revising in response to changes in our jobs, our families, and our lives…We need a new way to talk about work–one that doesn’t generalize our experience but individualizes it,” according to Bruce Feiler.

“The premise is simple: The biggest impediment to a meaningful life is not what you don’t know about work; it’s what you don’t know about yourself. Specifically, it’s understanding the underlying themes of your life. You can bounce from job to job; you can shift from field to field; but if you don’t tap into the earliest tensions, frustrations, and longings of your life – that personal scripture that’s unique only to you – you’ll never be happy,” said Bruce Feiler.

“We face a never-ending barrage of interruptions–some voluntary, other involuntary; some unique to us, others shared by the entire planet; some that grow out of changes in our workplace, others that grow out of changes in our mindsets. I call these moments workquakes… The people who get the most out of their biggest workquakes do three things: they immerse, they reflect, and they ascend. They excavate the past, they probe the present, and they construct the future,” according to Bruce Feiler.

Panel 7: “I call these three acts, collectively, a meaning audit. When done effectively, a meaning audit is the single biggest gift you can give yourself…To get the meaning you want, you first must identify the meaning you’re wanting…The essence of personal archaeology is using the tools of emotional excavation to resurface the underlying themes that have long directed your life,” said Bruce Feiler.

“We have 3 building blocks of identity, three levers we tug and push throughout our lives to maintain our sense of balance, purpose, and joy. I call these 3 elements the ABCs of Meaning. The A is agency–what we do, make, or create, our sense of autonomy, freedom, and mastery. For many of us, our sense of agency comes from our work. In narrative terms, our A is our me story,” said Bruce Feiler.

“The B is belonging–our relationships, friends, loved ones, and colleagues. For many of us, our sense of belonging comes from our families. It’s our we story. The C is cause–a calling, a mission, a purpose; a transcendent commitment beyond ourselves that makes our lives worthwhile. For many of us, our cause is our higher sense of giving back. It’s our thee story,” said Bruce Feiler.

“The third part of a meaning audit is to construct the future. Use the insights you gleaned from your personal archaeology and your assessment of your ABCs and begin to create a narrative for what comes next…A meaning audit is the most effective response to a meaning vacuum. It’s the process of moving from passively suffering to actively solving…This book explores how to use these questions to write the story of success you need,” said Bruce Feiler.

The Things Your Mom Should Have Told You Book of the Month: The Search: Finding Meaningful Work in a Post-Career World by Bruce Feiler

In the olden days, moms used to clip articles from newspapers for their kids if they thought it was something they needed to know. I’m keeping an eye out for things that you might have missed that may be helpful to you.

This week’s clips:

Friendship expert Nina Badzin explained why you should never wait to be invited on The Found podcast with Molly Knuth: “The people with the happiest social lives accept that it is always their turn. If you make plans, you have plans.”

On his Office Hours podcast, Arthur C. Brooks said there are 4 rules to ensure you make a job change that brings you greater satisfaction in your work. Rule #2 is to look for your happiness outside your job.

GenTwenty offers 6 simple ways to embrace a slower, more intentional way of living.

Share Things Your Mom Should Have Told You

Things Your Mom Should Have Told You

Ready to trash the traditional career success script?

Bruce Feiler explores how to find meaningful work in a post-career world

This week’s clips:

Discussion about this post