This framework really hit home. My top pleasure points were Independence, Self-Expression, Leading, and Teaching. It’s like a mirror of why I do the work I do as a psychologist and writer. Grateful for the clarity this brought. It’s rare to find something so simple yet so revealing.
I love to see how the points connect behind the work you enjoy. And the coolest thing about this is that the combination of your pleasure points, not necessarily reveal how a psychologist has to be, but the great qualities you bring into your occupation and practice. Love this!! Thanks for sharing.
My top pleasure points are the exact same as yours (tied with understanding) and both writing and psychology are extremely appealing to me! I'm studying marketing right now and thinking of any and all ways I can incorporate writing and psychology into my future career without changing majors...
Thank you so much for sharing this post with us, this exercise. I’ve just done it and it helped me a lot. It actually confirmed what I was thinking. I knew that I was good at Design, but I was afraid to make the leap and I’m still afraid to not land a job, to finish jobless by changing my career path. So I gave up design and stayed stuck in my primary field, law. But I’m not fulfilled, I’m not happy. This exercise helped me a lot. Thank you so much. I’ll do my best to do what I’m good at, to land the job of my dreams, I’m going to have what it takes to be a great designer and work at the company I love the most “Apple”.
You got this!!! Don't waste your talents. Create little experiments that help you to move in the right direction if making a big leap right now feels too scary. If you enjoyed this exercise, I totally recommend the book, i think it's going to be super helpful for your current moment!
Yeh, this is just the start. It's a great point to reflect what we really enjoy.. if you go through the workbook, the other exercises build on top of that.
But for me, the way it helped was to connect these points of pleasures with tasks that I did on my job, to understand what I wanted more and what I wanted less (I'm independent professional now, which gives me the freedom to decide the direction I want go towards), and adjusted my approach and type on clients on that.
I think either way, you can look if there are tasks in your current work that allows you to do more of what you enjoy within it. If not, you can brainstorm what potential tasks or jobs if you think you have more pleasure points attended, and create small experiments in that direction to see if aligns your expectations.
This was such an interesting experiment, I'm currently on the edge between graduating (next week!) and starting my professional life, and I have been struggling with find the right path. My top points were Understanding, Beauty par with Self-Expression, Helping Others, Teaching, and Leading par with Tech.
This really clicked for me. Leading, understanding, helping others, teaching, beauty, and self-expression all feel like the kinds of strengths that get overlooked in traditional roles, even though they’re what actually make work meaningful. Loved how clearly you laid this out.
THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!!! I need this right now, i’m at the point in my life where i have to decide who i wanna be or at least, what i’m going to spend the rest of my life doing… and it’s so confusing cause i don’t really find any criteria that suits me. but this post is really all i needed!! thank you🙏🏼🙏🏼
Hey mei, if I may I would like to share some thoughts on 2 points I noticed in your comment. The first is when you mention "Who I wanna be" - I hope you know that you already are. You don't have to become something else. This is what I wrote about in the piece I will share below, "the case against finding your purpose at work".
And also when you say "what i’m going to spend the rest of my life doing" - I don't know how would are you, but nowadays, research shows that Millenials are having 3-4 different careers in their lives, while Gen z, 5-6 careers. There is absolutely no pressure for you to pick one thing for the rest of your life. You're allowed to change you mind. You may find something you love in this moment of your life, and this might change in 10 years, because you grew and evolved as a person. And that's ok.
The most important thing is that you stay true to who you already are each phase of your life. I wish you so much fulfilment in your work path ahead 🙏
Hey Waka, if you're interested in reading more about the points of pleasure at work, I wrote part 2, sharing my thoughts on the most common questions people asked in the comments, and yours about the examples of jobs with their top pleasures: https://natmontenegro.substack.com/p/the-points-of-pleasure-at-work-part
I think different people can have the same job, and get different pleasures from it depending on how they execute it. If you're independent professional, you're likely to have more freedom to shape the work to execute tasks and processes in the way you like the most. If you work for a employer, than the goal of your work and the focus on the position will shape what kind of pleasures you have from it. I highly recommend the workbook, the other exercises build on top of this one.
I was a contractor creative director for over a decade and my pleasure in creativity score was 5 out of 10! Hmmmm...did I have improper fits: clients, budgets, etc? Yes. This is a call to action to be curious about that. My top scores: Independence, Leadership, Understanding, Beauty. This is a great tool!
Hey, if you're interested in reading more about the points of pleasure at work, I wrote part 2, sharing my thoughts on the most common questions people asked in the comments, including your challenge with low score in creativity but working in the creative field: https://natmontenegro.substack.com/p/the-points-of-pleasure-at-work-part
I also had the same job and scored 5/10 on Creativity. As someone who self-defines as 'creative' it took me by surprise. My other top scores were Self-Expression, Leadership, Independence, Understanding,and Beauty - which was the biggest surprise - and something I would be interested to explore more.
The other five pleasures you mentioned were in my top six too. I was surprised at the Creativity questions—looking back, they seem to reflect a competitive creativity useful in business. As someone who nurtures creativity and rarely feels the need to best someone else, the wording felt strange and incongruous. Conventional job bias, I suppose.
yes I think of myself as a creative person in that I love writing and artistic hobbies (ie creating things), but I scored low for Creativity on this quiz. Surprisingly, Beauty was my highest ranker. Understanding, self-expression, helping others was no surprise, but technology and teaching were.
Happily employed as a computer programmer for 40 years so it was no surprise that my top are: Understanding, Technology, Order, Leading, Independence. Leading surprised me a bit but I find that I’m enjoying passing my career off to the next generation (although I genuinely don’t plan to retire anytime soon).
Thank you so much for sharing this with us! It was fun & very insightful to me doing the assessment. The approach was new to me & I did a lot of different tests before!
Same for me! I did tests before, but this was the first one that helped me to get to know myself better at work really. What do you think that felt different for you?
Not entirely sure where to go from there with that, I've tried so many different careers that hit on all those points but none really stuck. Doing my best at 'author' career now, so we'll see if that hits better.
That's how it goes. Trial and error until you find your thing. Like a compass, exercises like this point us the direction, not the destination. Wishing you success in your career as an author! Curious why you wrote 'author' in quotes :)
Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I've turned the questionnaire into a spreadsheet, for ease of use (you can make a copy and edit it) https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-xJmNsZZhaUPZTcJkyhSUDd7eqFzJru50rLuicUj7Zo/edit?usp=sharing
uow! Love this Nicolas :) thank you!
Thank you!!
This framework really hit home. My top pleasure points were Independence, Self-Expression, Leading, and Teaching. It’s like a mirror of why I do the work I do as a psychologist and writer. Grateful for the clarity this brought. It’s rare to find something so simple yet so revealing.
I love to see how the points connect behind the work you enjoy. And the coolest thing about this is that the combination of your pleasure points, not necessarily reveal how a psychologist has to be, but the great qualities you bring into your occupation and practice. Love this!! Thanks for sharing.
My top pleasure points are the exact same as yours (tied with understanding) and both writing and psychology are extremely appealing to me! I'm studying marketing right now and thinking of any and all ways I can incorporate writing and psychology into my future career without changing majors...
Hey Ana, if you're interested in reading more about the points of pleasure at work, I wrote part 2, sharing my thoughts on the most common questions people asked in the comments: https://natmontenegro.substack.com/p/the-points-of-pleasure-at-work-part
My top points were same as your;)
Thank you so much for sharing this post with us, this exercise. I’ve just done it and it helped me a lot. It actually confirmed what I was thinking. I knew that I was good at Design, but I was afraid to make the leap and I’m still afraid to not land a job, to finish jobless by changing my career path. So I gave up design and stayed stuck in my primary field, law. But I’m not fulfilled, I’m not happy. This exercise helped me a lot. Thank you so much. I’ll do my best to do what I’m good at, to land the job of my dreams, I’m going to have what it takes to be a great designer and work at the company I love the most “Apple”.
You got this!!! Don't waste your talents. Create little experiments that help you to move in the right direction if making a big leap right now feels too scary. If you enjoyed this exercise, I totally recommend the book, i think it's going to be super helpful for your current moment!
I've done the math and now i'm curious where to go from there. Definitely did an ILL with my library to see what the book suggests
Yeh, this is just the start. It's a great point to reflect what we really enjoy.. if you go through the workbook, the other exercises build on top of that.
But for me, the way it helped was to connect these points of pleasures with tasks that I did on my job, to understand what I wanted more and what I wanted less (I'm independent professional now, which gives me the freedom to decide the direction I want go towards), and adjusted my approach and type on clients on that.
I think either way, you can look if there are tasks in your current work that allows you to do more of what you enjoy within it. If not, you can brainstorm what potential tasks or jobs if you think you have more pleasure points attended, and create small experiments in that direction to see if aligns your expectations.
I don’t know if this can be helpful ,
But personally I shared my top 6 pleasures with ChatGbt and asked for a list with jobs that aligns with them
If you are not into Ai
just take a pen and paper list your top pleasures , then sit and think about jobs that are Strongly aligned with almost all your pleasures
I love this idea of combining with AI! Thanks for the input :)
Hey Nour, if you're interested in reading more about the points of pleasure at work, I wrote part 2, sharing my thoughts on the most common questions people asked in the comments: https://natmontenegro.substack.com/p/the-points-of-pleasure-at-work-part
Hey Krys, I think this can give you some direction to your question of what to do next with this info. I wrote part 2, sharing my thoughts on the most common questions people asked in the comments: https://natmontenegro.substack.com/p/the-points-of-pleasure-at-work-part
Thanks! I'm still waiting for my ILL :( I'll definitely look at this in the meantime
This was such an interesting experiment, I'm currently on the edge between graduating (next week!) and starting my professional life, and I have been struggling with find the right path. My top points were Understanding, Beauty par with Self-Expression, Helping Others, Teaching, and Leading par with Tech.
Congrats on your gradation! Wish you a fulfilling path ahead :D Thank you for sharing your results! Love it
Thank you <3
Hey Dora, if you're interested in reading more about the points of pleasure at work, I wrote part 2, sharing my thoughts on the most common questions people asked in the comments: https://natmontenegro.substack.com/p/the-points-of-pleasure-at-work-part
This really clicked for me. Leading, understanding, helping others, teaching, beauty, and self-expression all feel like the kinds of strengths that get overlooked in traditional roles, even though they’re what actually make work meaningful. Loved how clearly you laid this out.
Thank you for sharing Samantha, I think when we know our strengths, it's easier to shape how we work in that direction :)
Thank you for providing a piece to spend time reading with joy.
awn, this warmed my heart. Thank you for your thoughtful comment Oleksandr 🥹
I didnt know I had the Pleasure of Teaching in my toolbox! Wow
Hey Cindy, if you're interested in reading more about the points of pleasure at work, I wrote part 2, sharing my thoughts on the most common questions people asked in the comments: https://natmontenegro.substack.com/p/the-points-of-pleasure-at-work-part
I'll check it out! Ty!
Love this for you 💙 There are so many possibilities for each one of us that we are unaware of!
So helpful, thank you!
Hey Sarah, if you're interested in reading more about the points of pleasure at work, I wrote part 2, sharing my thoughts on the most common questions people asked in the comments: https://natmontenegro.substack.com/p/the-points-of-pleasure-at-work-part
Thank you for your comment 🙏 ☺️
THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!!! I need this right now, i’m at the point in my life where i have to decide who i wanna be or at least, what i’m going to spend the rest of my life doing… and it’s so confusing cause i don’t really find any criteria that suits me. but this post is really all i needed!! thank you🙏🏼🙏🏼
Hey mei, if I may I would like to share some thoughts on 2 points I noticed in your comment. The first is when you mention "Who I wanna be" - I hope you know that you already are. You don't have to become something else. This is what I wrote about in the piece I will share below, "the case against finding your purpose at work".
And also when you say "what i’m going to spend the rest of my life doing" - I don't know how would are you, but nowadays, research shows that Millenials are having 3-4 different careers in their lives, while Gen z, 5-6 careers. There is absolutely no pressure for you to pick one thing for the rest of your life. You're allowed to change you mind. You may find something you love in this moment of your life, and this might change in 10 years, because you grew and evolved as a person. And that's ok.
The most important thing is that you stay true to who you already are each phase of your life. I wish you so much fulfilment in your work path ahead 🙏
The piece I mentioned:
https://natmontenegro.substack.com/p/the-case-against-finding-your-purpose
thank you so much for this🥹
Hey mei, I wrote part 2, inspired by your comment & others here. I hope this can give you some clarity on the next steps, after identifying your pleasure points at work: https://natmontenegro.substack.com/p/the-points-of-pleasure-at-work-part
Great content, I’m sure it will be useful to many of us.
I would be curious to see examples of jobs with their top pleasures
Hey Waka, if you're interested in reading more about the points of pleasure at work, I wrote part 2, sharing my thoughts on the most common questions people asked in the comments, and yours about the examples of jobs with their top pleasures: https://natmontenegro.substack.com/p/the-points-of-pleasure-at-work-part
Great thank you !
I think different people can have the same job, and get different pleasures from it depending on how they execute it. If you're independent professional, you're likely to have more freedom to shape the work to execute tasks and processes in the way you like the most. If you work for a employer, than the goal of your work and the focus on the position will shape what kind of pleasures you have from it. I highly recommend the workbook, the other exercises build on top of this one.
@Emerald LaFortune You might enjoy this!
Hey Madeline, if you're interested in reading more about the points of pleasure at work, I wrote part 2, sharing my thoughts on the most common questions people asked in the comments: https://natmontenegro.substack.com/p/the-points-of-pleasure-at-work-part
Love! Thank you for passing this on!
I was a contractor creative director for over a decade and my pleasure in creativity score was 5 out of 10! Hmmmm...did I have improper fits: clients, budgets, etc? Yes. This is a call to action to be curious about that. My top scores: Independence, Leadership, Understanding, Beauty. This is a great tool!
Hey, if you're interested in reading more about the points of pleasure at work, I wrote part 2, sharing my thoughts on the most common questions people asked in the comments, including your challenge with low score in creativity but working in the creative field: https://natmontenegro.substack.com/p/the-points-of-pleasure-at-work-part
Wow, that's a new perspective! I hope it can help you to explore different parts of yourself!
I also had the same job and scored 5/10 on Creativity. As someone who self-defines as 'creative' it took me by surprise. My other top scores were Self-Expression, Leadership, Independence, Understanding,and Beauty - which was the biggest surprise - and something I would be interested to explore more.
The other five pleasures you mentioned were in my top six too. I was surprised at the Creativity questions—looking back, they seem to reflect a competitive creativity useful in business. As someone who nurtures creativity and rarely feels the need to best someone else, the wording felt strange and incongruous. Conventional job bias, I suppose.
yes I think of myself as a creative person in that I love writing and artistic hobbies (ie creating things), but I scored low for Creativity on this quiz. Surprisingly, Beauty was my highest ranker. Understanding, self-expression, helping others was no surprise, but technology and teaching were.
Hey Michelle, if you're interested in reading more about the points of pleasure at work, I wrote part 2, sharing my thoughts on the most common questions people asked in the comments: https://natmontenegro.substack.com/p/the-points-of-pleasure-at-work-part
Hey Grace, if you're interested in reading more about the points of pleasure at work, I wrote part 2, sharing my thoughts on the most common questions people asked in the comments: https://natmontenegro.substack.com/p/the-points-of-pleasure-at-work-part
Hey, if you're interested in reading more about the points of pleasure at work, I wrote part 2, sharing my thoughts on the most common questions people asked in the comments: https://natmontenegro.substack.com/p/the-points-of-pleasure-at-work-part
Happily employed as a computer programmer for 40 years so it was no surprise that my top are: Understanding, Technology, Order, Leading, Independence. Leading surprised me a bit but I find that I’m enjoying passing my career off to the next generation (although I genuinely don’t plan to retire anytime soon).
Love this, it's so reassuring when we see results we intuitively know already. I'm happy for you! Wishing you a long and fulfilling career :D
Hey Jen, if you're interested in reading more about the points of pleasure at work, I wrote part 2, sharing my thoughts on the most common questions people asked in the comments: https://natmontenegro.substack.com/p/the-points-of-pleasure-at-work-part
(ps: I mentioned your comment in the piece, thank you for the inspiration!)
Thank you so much for sharing this with us! It was fun & very insightful to me doing the assessment. The approach was new to me & I did a lot of different tests before!
Hey Mavi, if you're interested in reading more about the points of pleasure at work, I wrote part 2, sharing my thoughts on the most common questions people asked in the comments: https://natmontenegro.substack.com/p/the-points-of-pleasure-at-work-part
Same for me! I did tests before, but this was the first one that helped me to get to know myself better at work really. What do you think that felt different for you?
1. Understanding
2. Independence
Equal 3, 4, 5. Self-Expression, Creativity, Helping Others
6 Teaching.
Not entirely sure where to go from there with that, I've tried so many different careers that hit on all those points but none really stuck. Doing my best at 'author' career now, so we'll see if that hits better.
That's how it goes. Trial and error until you find your thing. Like a compass, exercises like this point us the direction, not the destination. Wishing you success in your career as an author! Curious why you wrote 'author' in quotes :)
It's in quotes because I haven't published anything yet. I want to be an author but I'm currently just a writer 😄
Hey, if you're interested in reading more about the points of pleasure at work, I wrote part 2, sharing my thoughts on the most common questions people asked in the comments: https://natmontenegro.substack.com/p/the-points-of-pleasure-at-work-part