The inescapable desire to flourish, representing the pursuit of the best possible life, has captivated scholars throughout history. The workplace, a significant avenue for fulfilling this desire, paradoxically remains marked by widespread employee exhaustion and gloominess, despite substantial investments in the area. This disconnect underscores a gap between theoretical understandings and employees' lived experiences of flourishing. Furthermore, existing workplace flourishing conceptualizations, largely adapted from life-domain research conducted in a Western context, often lack cultural sensitivity and work-specific nuances, limiting their relevance and applicability. To address these gaps, this study employs a grounded theory approach, interviewing 31 employees across diverse industries and occupations to explore their perceptions and experiences of workplace flourishing. While previous research primarily defines flourishing as a state of emotional, psychological, and social well-being, our findings reveal it as a dynamic, ongoing process of achieving optimization through the fulfillment of interconnected values at any given moment. We present a theoretical model that unravels the gearbox system consisting of the present self, personally expressive work, personal projects, and the agentic self that drives flourishing at the workplace. This model also emphasizes the critical role of a supportive workplace environment in fostering and sustaining flourishing while acknowledging the influence of uncontrollable situational factors. Additionally, it captures the evolving nature of flourishing, shaped by changing individual values and goals over time. This study contributes to the advancement of workplace flourishing theory by providing a culturally nuanced and work-specific perspective, offering valuable insights into organizational practices and direction for future research.