Unless we’ve won big on the lottery most of us have to work but are we clear why we are working?

 

1)      To Provide a Service

We all provide a service to someone in our day to day work but sometimes this gets lost.

Lesson:

Concentrate on providing a service to others.  Strive to and know that you are making a positive difference to those around you.

 

2)      To Contribute to a Better World

Does what we’re doing make the world a better place (in some small or large way)?  If not, could we do it in a way that does or should we be doing something else that could?

Lesson:

We all have a responsibility to try to make the world a better place.  We can do this on a daily basis through small gestures and actions so that it becomes habit.

 

3)      To Pay Bills & Make a Living

An obvious but important reason.  However, reverse engineering this and ensuring our bills and overheads are as little as they can be to support a required lifestyle can mean what we think we need to earn and what we actually need to earn are not always the same thing.  If you actually need to earn less (than you think) to support your desired lifestyle this gives you more options in the hours you work (in your current role) or could mean you explore a new career path (at a lesser wage) aligned to a passion.

Lesson:

Think outside the box and revisit this area often.

 

4)      To Challenge Ourselves

Learning new skills or learning about ourselves can be great by product of work.

Lesson:

Ensure your work challenges you in some way and welcome change as a new challenge.

 

5)      To Fulfil a Passion

For the lucky among us work is purely a by product of following a passion.  This is rare air indeed but if you revisit number 3 above often it could be more within reach than you may think.

Lesson:

Can you turn your passion into a way of making a living?

 

I hope this helps you think about your own reasons for working.