Working without purpose? Why quiet quitting is eating you alive and how to recognize a meaning crisis at work

Does your job feel like nothing you do actually matters?

Maybe you earn good money, have security and a title that looks impressive on paper. But inside, you feel empty. Every morning you ask yourself the same question: What am I actually doing this for?

According to a recent Gallup study, many employees in Germany have already mentally checked out. Only a small fraction feel emotionally connected to their employer, while the majority are doing the bare minimum. Almost half are seriously thinking about changing jobs. Meaning crises at work are not a rare exception. And they eat you alive, slowly and quietly.

I know this feeling all too well. There was a time when I constantly asked myself what real value my work actually brought to others. I wanted to make a difference, to make the world a little bit better. Instead, I sat in endless meetings, discussing things that, from where I stood, changed absolutely nothing.

And that frustrated me. Deeply.

I work with people who find themselves in exactly this situation. They have done everything right but feel like something is missing. They earn well but are unhappy. They show up at work, but inside they feel hollow.

In this article, I will show you how to recognize when your job has started to feel meaningless, what mistakes people in this situation tend to make, and what you can do to get out of a meaning crisis. Because the first step out of a meaning crisis is recognizing that you are in one.

Why a meaning crisis at work is so hard to spot

A meaning crisis at work often creeps in unnoticed, because from the outside everything looks fine. You do your job, no one complains, maybe you even get positive feedback. The problem is invisible. It plays out entirely inside you.

And that is exactly what makes it so confusing. We are trained to identify problems through external factors: a bad boss, a low salary, annoying colleagues. But what if all of that is actually okay? What if you catch yourself thinking: "Be grateful, other people have it much worse"?

On top of that, nobody talks about it. In meetings, the focus is on metrics and projects, not existential questions about purpose. So you assume you are the only one who feels this way.

But trust me, you are not.

Many people reach this point at some stage. They just do not talk about it. A meaning crisis is not the same as a bad day. It is not just job frustration either. It goes deeper. It gnaws at you. And it does not go away on its own. Because the first step out of a meaning crisis is recognizing that you are in one.

Sign 1: You are going through the motions, but you are not really living

You wake up in the morning, shower, make coffee, drive to work. Or open your laptop if you are working from home. You work through your to-do list. You do what is expected of you. Everything runs smoothly.

But you are not really there.

It feels like you are on autopilot. The tasks almost complete themselves because you have done them a hundred times before. You say the right things in meetings. You reply to emails. You nod when someone explains something. But if you are honest with yourself, you are completely checked out on the inside.

That is not a normal work rut. That is a warning sign. When you notice that you are just functioning but no longer feeling present, no longer feeling alive, that is more than boredom. That is the beginning of quiet quitting.

Sign 2: Meetings feel pointless and you keep asking yourself "What am I even doing here?"

You are sitting in a meeting. Someone is talking about quarterly figures. Or the new strategy. Or who is responsible for which area. And while everyone else is nodding and taking notes, only one thought runs through your head: "What on earth am I doing here?"

Not because the meeting is badly organized. Although, honestly, that can also be true. But because you keep asking: Why? What is the point of all this? What does it actually achieve? Who will care about this in five years? What impact does what we are discussing in here have on the world out there?

And if the answer frustrates you, I completely understand that.

You feel like a tiny cog in a machine while time keeps ticking away. Another week gone, and what did your work actually accomplish? You think: Does this really help society? Am I contributing anything meaningful for people or for our planet?

And then comes the thought: How am I supposed to keep doing this for the next few years?

The feeling that your work has no real impact is exhausting. You want to know that what you do makes a difference somewhere. That there is a reason you get up in the morning. When that question keeps getting louder, you are right in the middle of a meaning crisis.

Sign 3: Good salary, nice team, but still unhappy

This is the confusing part. You have no real reason to complain. Your salary is absolutely fine, maybe even above average. You have nice people on your team. People you get along with well. Your manager? Could be worse. And the benefits are okay too.

And yet you are unhappy at work. Genuinely unhappy.

That drives you crazy because you think: "What is wrong with me?" Other people would love to have your job. And you? You almost feel ashamed of it, because being unhappy anyway feels ungrateful.

But honestly: external factors (salary, colleagues, perks) cannot make up for a missing sense of purpose. They cannot make you happy when you feel deep down that what you do holds no real value for you.

When you notice that the external factors are fine but the inner emptiness remains, that is not ungrateful complaining. That is a sign that something fundamental is missing.

Sign 4: Sunday evening is horrible, and Monday morning is even worse

You know that feeling on Sunday evening? When the weekend is coming to an end and a new week is around the corner? When your stomach tightens and you think: "Another Monday. And you have absolutely no energy for it. And your mood just sinks.

And Monday morning? Even worse. The alarm goes off and you need five attempts to get up. You drag yourself through the morning as if you have lead in your bones. Because everything inside you is fighting against starting this day.

That is a physical reaction to the thought of going back to work. Your body is telling you: "I do not want to be there."

I remember this phase clearly. Sunday evenings were torture. I could not switch off, could not relax, because I knew that week was starting again the next day. Five days that felt like an eternity.

When your body reacts this clearly, it is time to take a closer look at what is actually going on.

Sign 5: You are afraid of change, but even more afraid of staying

This is the point where things get really uncomfortable. You know something is wrong. You feel that you cannot keep going like this. But at the same time, thoughts like these paralyze you:

"What if I can't find anything else?" "What if I make the wrong decision?" "Am I not too old to start over?" "What will people think if I give up my secure job?"

The fear of change is enormous. It feels real, threatening, overwhelming. So you stay. One more week. One more month. One more year.

The fear of staying keeps growing. With every day you spend in a job that makes you unhappy, this second fear gets bigger. The fear that this really is all there is. That you have wasted your time. That one day you will look back and think: "Why didn't I change something when I still could?"

I was terrified back then. Terrified of leaving my job. Terrified that I was too old in my mid-thirties to start completely fresh. Terrified of failing. But the fear of staying and still being unhappy ten years later? That was even greater.

When you notice that you are caught between two fears (the fear of change and the fear of staying), that is a sign that you are standing at a turning point.

Sign 6: The thought "Surely this can't be all there is" will not leave you alone

There is this thought. It usually comes in quiet moments. When you are driving to work. When you are sitting on the sofa in the evening going over the day. When you are lying awake at night unable to sleep.

"Surely this can't be all there is."

It is not a question. It is a statement. An existential restlessness that spreads inside you. You look at the last ten, fifteen years and think: "Okay, and now what? Am I going to keep doing this for the next twenty years? Is this my life?"

Maybe you have climbed the career ladder. You have done everything right. But at some point you realize it does not fulfill you. Maybe you have a fancy title. But you spend your time in endless meetings that make no sense and completing tasks that do not inspire you.

Then you see older colleagues close to retirement: burnt out, unmotivated, just going through the motions.

The thought alone makes you break out in a cold sweat. Do you really want to spend decades in structures and doing work that does not fulfill you and slowly drains your soul?

This thought confronts you with the time you have and with the question of how you want to use it. It will not let you go because it points to something deep: the feeling that you are wasting your life.

And the thought that it is time to change something keeps coming back. That you want more than just a salary and security. That you want a life that actually feels right, not just one that looks good from the outside.

What mistakes do people make when they have been unhappy at work for a long time?

One common mistake is switching jobs without clarity. People leave their old company without really knowing what they want instead or what gives them a sense of purpose. Maybe a lucrative offer came along. Or they simply could not take the old job anymore and just wanted to leave.

But then they end up doing the same thing in a different place.

After the initial excitement wears off, they quickly realize that the motivation is fading again. Thoughts like "Am I wasting my life here?" come back. Even a top salary cannot replace the feeling of being effective and meaningful. There is no point if the work itself still feels empty. If what the company does does not align with what matters to you.

Another mistake is staying stuck in the situation and doing nothing. And if you are honest: how often do you complain about your job at home? How often do you unload your frustration on your friends?

Complaining is easier than taking action. But it changes nothing.

What do people regret at the end of their lives?

Bronnie Ware, an Australian palliative care nurse, accompanied many dying people and listened carefully to what they had to say. She later wrote the book "The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing."

I read that book years ago. When you are confronted with death, what really matters at the end of a life?

One thing becomes very clear: most people do not regret the things they did. They regret not having been honest with themselves. They listened too much to the expectations of others and did not follow their own dreams.

At the end of your life, do you want to realize that your life was in your own hands? Or do you want to be one of those people who say: if only I had...?

What actually makes a job fulfilling?

Martin Seligman, the founder of positive psychology, developed the PERMA model. It describes five building blocks of a fulfilling life: Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Achievement.

The meaning aspect is especially critical at work.

When your work does not create value, a meaning crisis can set in. No matter how high the salary is. No matter what title is on your business card. Meaning comes from using your strengths, acting according to your values and achieving something that genuinely matters to you.

Sounds pretty simple, actually? It is. But most jobs are not built that way.

Do you dare to really follow your heart?

Jane Goodall worked as a waitress and secretary when she was young. At 23, she followed her heart into the wilderness of Tanzania. She revolutionized primate research and became one of the world's most recognized environmental and animal welfare advocates.

J.K. Rowling worked as a teacher and lived on welfare benefits before she committed fully to writing. Today, Harry Potter touches millions of lives.

You do not need to become a primate researcher or a bestselling author. But you can find out what makes your heart come alive.

Living by your big five: Finding meaning at work

John Strelecky writes in his bestseller "The Big Five for Life" that every person should have five great life goals. These goals act like an inner compass. They guide you through life and help you make the right decisions.

Imagine your life as a museum, filled with all your most important moments and achievements. Would your current job have a place there?

Work is a major part of our lives. It should support your Big Five. When it does, it gives you energy and meaning. When it does not, it quickly becomes a burden.

Why now is the best time to make a change

Tatjana Schnell, psychologist and meaning researcher, studied what underpins a sense of meaning in life. She concluded that belonging, coherence, taking responsibility and having orientation are important sources of meaning. People who have several sources of meaning are more stable, more resilient and more content.

So take a close look at the environment you are working in. Does your company support your sense of purpose or does it just drain you? Are there companies out there that fascinate you and align with what matters to you?

What Can you do to get out of a meaning crisis?

Let's do a thought experiment. You keep going to work, you change nothing. Where do you think you will be in a year's time? If you can barely stand your job right now because you are longing for meaningful work, you will probably be even more frustrated in a year.

Let's jump even further into the future.

You are watching your own funeral as an invisible presence. You can hear everyone, no one can see or hear you, and nobody knows you are there. They speak about you and your career completely unfiltered. They stand at the graveside and say: "He or she always wanted to do something meaningful. Instead, he or she wasted their life. He or she always complained about how pointless the job was, but was too comfortable to actually change anything."

I know that is provocative.

Bronnie Ware documented that dying people most often regretted not having been honest with themselves and not having lived their own dreams.

Which kind of dying person do you want to be?

Final thoughts: Do not wait any longer

It does not have to end that way. You can start today. Start finding out what work would actually fulfill you.

In my coaching, I support people who want to reorient their careers professionally and find a job that makes them want to get up on Monday mornings. Together we discover which activities give you energy, which strengths you want to use, and what would give your life genuine meaning.

Do not wait any longer. Book your free discovery call now and start your journey toward a job that truly fulfills and inspires you.