Do you make a difference? When you punch the time clock at the beginning of the day, do you feel you are about to make a contribution to the cause that is uniquely yours to give? Or are you merely going through the motions?

Your answer may provide some of the best career guidance you can find. For me, feeling vital to the success of an operation has always been the key to finding personal job satisfaction. When I start to feel like I am failing to contribute to the overall effort, I start to feel lost. I begin to wonder if it's time to look for a new job.

I was reminded about the importance of making a difference as I thumbed through this month's edition of AARP Magazine, which salutes ten citizens who have changed the world in some fashion. The winners of the American Association of Retired Persons' 2004 Impact Awards range from Jessica Lange, the actress and photographer, to General Tommy Franks, who ousted Saddam Hussein from power in 20 days.

Other winners included a virus tracker, a World Series champion coach, a World Trade Center site designer, a ballet director, crime fighter John Walsh of America's Most Wanted, a neurologist, a food critic and a genome pioneer.

My favorite profile involved the food critic. When NY Times columnist Gael Greene found out homebound seniors were going hungry on weekends and holidays because Meals on Wheels only delivered food Monday through Friday, "it was not bearable." She got on the phone and started raising money. Last year, her nonprofit agency delivered more than two million meals.

Can you imagine being a restaurateur and getting a call from the NY Times food critic for a contribution? Well, at least it was extortion in the name of an honorable cause.

Not Always Blissful

You don't have to go that far to find examples of people involved because they want to make a difference. Look at SF Mayor Gavin Newsom. When he was first elected, I thought he would be anything but a radical. Yet here he is, making a difference. Whenever or not you agree with that difference is another matter.

On the other end of the political spectrum is Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger. Part of his reason for running was a self-professed desire to make a difference. What other reason could there be? Fame? Money? He's got all that.

Then there's the perennial presidential candidate Ralph Nader. Whether or not you welcome his hat in the ring, even his critics have to concede that Nader's activist life has been all about change.

You can even find an example of my thesis on your local theater marquee. Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ should really be named the passion of Mel. He wants his movie to make a difference, to portray his religious beliefs in a unique and challenging way. Whether or not you agree with his views or his depiction of them is immaterial.

Ordinary People

You might feel it's easier for celebrities to have an impact, given their fame and fortune. In a sense you're right. Few of us are movie stars, political leaders or generals. We don't have a stage crew, an institution or an army at our disposal.

But you don't have to be wealthy or well known to make a difference. You can get involved in a field that lends itself to altruism. A nursing friend who works for a hospice could make more money elsewhere, but I know she will never abandon a profession she feels is a special calling. She makes a compassionate difference in the final days of a patient's life.

Not every profession affords such opportunities. But the kind of contribution I am talking about does not require you to be the next Mother Teresa. It only requires that you contribute something - your talent, your ideas, your effort, your support - to the cause, whether it's building a housing tract, hauling a priority shipment or providing exceptional customer service at the coffee counter. In other words, have you done something on the job lately that is uniquely you?

Sometimes that can be difficult, especially when a profession changes. Once upon a time, teaching automatically lent itself to intrinsic rewards. Nowadays, I am not so sure. More than one friend of mine has quit the classroom, frustrated that all they can do is "teach to the test." In other words, they no longer felt they were making a difference.

For me, journalism in and of itself has been a way to change the world. Or at least make me think I am making a difference. But even that is not always guaranteed. My last stint at a daily newspaper ended badly when the leadership changed and I could no longer make a difference in newspaper policy. I wrongly tried to work through the tough times, when I should have seen the handwriting on the wall.

So sometimes making a difference is not always up to you. My question is merely a litmus test - a way to measure your own fitness on the job. If you feel stymied for any reason in your current position, consider your alternatives. Because if you don't feel like you make a difference, imagine what your boss thinks about you.