In the book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell identified three key properties of meaningful and fulfilling work:
Autonomy, complexity, and a strong connection between effort and achievement
Autonomy gives you independence–it gives you the ability to make meaningful choices and the freedom to make mistakes and learn. Complexity gives you a sense of challenge and keeps you interested. A connection between effort and achievement gives you an incentive to work harder to achieve greater.
It’s a succinct set of properties to remember that can be applied to any work you do whether it’s paid or volunteering, working for someone else or for yourself.
