CHAPTER 1
Do I Have To Work?
The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he is always doing both.
~JAMES MICHENER
Is work that necessary evil that consumes the time between our brief periods of enjoyment on the weekends? Is it primarily a method of paying the bills and showing responsibility? Or a way to prove to our parents that the college degree was a reasonable investment? Or the shortest path to retirement? Or is it more?
It seems some people believe that work is a tradeoff for enjoyment. That work is only done to produce a paycheck. And hereās another common myth: that the more income a person makes, the higher the stress level. No, when work and passion are combined the money flows much easier. You may be making $10/hour and be very stressed or you may be making $123,000 a year and love what youāre doing. The issue is not how much money is being generated but rather, how much does the work āfitā you.
The Encarta dictionary defines work as
- 1.paid employment at a job,
- 2.the duties or activities that are part of a job or occupation,
- 3.the place where somebody is employed, or
- 4.the time that a person spends carrying out his or her job.
We seem to contrast this definition of work with play. Surely we can escape work to spend time in play.
The same dictionary defines play as
- 1.to engage in enjoyable activity,
- 2.to deal with a situation in a particular way to achieve a desired result, or
- 3.to take part in a game or a sporting activity.
To work is to carry out the duties of a job; to play is to do something enjoyable. But what if you found something you truly enjoyed that also supplied your needed income? Would work and play actually become one and the same? Is it unreasonable to expect our work to be an enjoyable activity? Is that really such an impossible idea? What would happen to your plans for āretirementā if you were doing work that was meaningful and profitable now? Isnāt our idea of retirement to be able to quit this stinking job and be able to do something enjoyable every day? What a novel idea.
People often ask me if Iām living the life Iām talking about. And I tell them to come spend a couple of days with me and then decide for themselves. On the back side of our property we have an old barn that weāve redeemed and converted into my office, an event center, and guest quarters. My commute in the morning is free of traffic lights, horns, bad roads and angry people fighting to get to their place of work. Outside my office window I see a waterfall and bird feeders that attract colorful birds and wild turkeys all year long. I also see the platform for a zipline we put up a few years ago that runs 350 feet from my office down over the nature trail, past my little red barn and right to the back door of our house. My grandchildren are free to come and play at any time.
Finding or creating the work environment that fits you is a very individualized process. Depending on your personality you could easily be bored with my workspace. I think, dream, imagine and write as my work. If you are a social, gregarious person my work environment would likely make you feel lonely and isolated. Thatās the beauty of knowing how we can shape our choices to fit what we know about ourselves. You get to choose what blends your talents, personality and passions.
What if we check out a couple other words that are thrown in with work and play? Leisure is ātime during which somebody has no obligations or work responsibilities, and therefore is free to engage in enjoyable activities.ā The word comes from a term in an old French dialectāleissor, which means āpermission,ā or literally āto be allowed.ā
Leo Tolstoy, struggling in his search for godliness, looked at the lives of his privileged class and the lives of the plain folks who were their laborers. He determined that whatever their hardships, the working folk rested at night in peace and confidence in Godās goodness, while those in royalty frequently complained and were unhappy about their lives. He renounced his wealthy class and set out to work in the fields alongside the peasants. He proclaimed that the greatest error of the leisure class was the erroneous belief that āhappiness consists in idleness.ā In A Talk Among Leisured People he asserted that we must return to the recognition āthat work, and not idleness, is the indispensable condition of happiness for every human being.ā
Letās look at how our common phrases confirm that āworkā is something we have to do, while āplayā is something we get to do. āThank God itās Fridayā reinforces the idea that at last we can escape the evil of work and do something we truly enjoy. āOh no, itās Mondayā clearly reinforces the message from the Mamas and the Papasā 1966 song that we ācanāt trust that day.ā Our anticipation of retirement implies that finally we can quit this thing called work and spend our time doing only what we enjoy. But that raises the question: What would you call your daily activity if you actually enjoyed it? Would it cease to be āworkā? If the only goal of our working is to accumulate enough money to quit working, then it confirms the picture that work is just a bitter pill to be endured until the moment you can escape it. But as you move into work of your choosing and design, work that integrates your strongest talents and gifts, you will experience a joy not commonly connected with āwork.ā And youāll find that your desire to quit and move into the blank state of retirement will diminish significantly.
What if you were āallowedā to do what you most enjoyed every day? Do you think youād still want to retire?
The definition of retire is
- 1.to stop working willingly; to leave a job or career voluntarily;
- 2.to stop engaging in daily activities and go to bed;
- 3.to leave a place, position, or way of life and go to a place of less activity; or
- 4.withdraw something from service.
Isnāt that what is implied when people talk about retirement? When can I stop this stupid job and start doing what I really enjoy? Do you really want to stop engaging in daily activities? Or withdraw from service? Instead, why not expect enjoyment in your daily work?
The fruits of a fulfilling lifeāhappiness, confidence, enthusiasm, purpose, and moneyāare mainly by-products of doing something we enjoy, with excellence, rather than things we can seek directly.
In his popular book The Millionaire Mind, Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D., looked at the characteristics of Americaās wealthiest people, attempting to identify their distinguishing traits. Was it their IQ, GPA, college major, familyās opportunity, or business selection? Surprisingly, none of these topics seemed to predict their extraordinary success. The one characteristic the millionaires did have in common is they were all doing something they loved. Dr. Stanley concludes, āIf you love, absolutely love what you are doing, chances are excellent that you will succeed.ā
In a commencement address at Stanford University, Steve Jobs said this: āYour work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work; and the only way to do great work is to love what you do.ā
Our early ideas of work tend to view it as something less than desirable and enjoyable. Tom, a sharp 27-year-old, came to my office wanting confirmation that he was on the right track. He had recently graduated from college (having finished the 7-year plan) and had taken a sales position with an office-equipment company. Each morning he put on his suit and made his calls. The company loved him, but he was bored beyond belief. I asked him why he had taken this route, and his reply relayed a common perception. Tom said that he had a great time in collegeātraveling, snowboarding, attending ball games, and spending time with his friends. After graduation, he felt it was time to āgrow upā and become part of the āreal world.ā He assumed that meant getting a job he hated to prove his responsibility.
I laughed and asked who had sold him that bill of goods. We looked carefully at his skills, personality traits, values, dreams, and passions. Today, Tom is co-owner of a snowboard shop in Breckenridge, Colorado. On a moonlit night you might catch him coming down a hill, testing one of his new designs.
No, this excerpt is not really about abused wives, but I had a client use that term recently in describing his repeated return to the unfulfilling work of his professional training. In his mind, there was a strikingly similar pattern. He would break away from the work he despised for something more rewarding, experience a challenge or setback, and return to the dreaded work, knowing it was where he could make the most predictable income.
Do you do your work only because of its paycheck? Do you long to leave for something more enjoyable? Have you tried another path only to return to what is more familiar? Many people often get trapped in these patterns of returning to negative, abusive situations. The emotions and self-esteem issues there may be complicated and confusing. However, the stakes are dramatically lessened with a job.
A job should not define who or what you are. You should be able to leave your job (business/career) today and not change the overall purpose or direction of your life. Your calling is a much larger concept than what you do daily to create income. Work opportunities can come and go. The direction of your life should remain constant.
Why do we work?
In asking this question, I typically get the following responses:
- ā¢to pay the bills
- ā¢for food, clothing, and shelter
- ā¢because of othersā expectations
- ā¢to combat boredom
- ā¢for self-worth
- ā¢for social stimulation
- ā¢because itās a place to go
I encounter a lot of people who leave their traditional jobs because they want to do something more significant. One woman, who just resigned from her $74,000-per-year job, said she wanted to do something ānoble.ā Many are saying they...