I have been working through Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans.
In one of the activities, they ask you to describe your workview – why you work – referring to all of your labors, not just what you do for money.
I work:
- Out of respect for those who came before and labored so we could have such wealthy, blessed lives (ie. compared to people historically)
- Because I want to be attractive to my [future] wife, high-value to my friends, and a role-model, reliable figure for my [future] children
- Because I am blessed with good health, a highly-valued education, and a set of unique, valuable talents
- Because I want to give back to my local community and increase the standard-of-living of the most vulnerable in our society
- Because I want to have credibility and influence with decision-makers who will impact our community, nation, and world in non-linear ways
- Because I know a purely materialistic worldview is naive and that honor, accomplishment, and responsibility add to the richness of life
- Because I have been inspired and supported by hardworking people who are happy, energized by life, and who embody a non-materialistic version of ‘success’
- Because it gives me energy
- Because it creates opportunities to meet amazing, driven people who share my values and challenge my assumptions
- Because having to be awake and in specific locations at certain times brings order to my life that is conducive to a healthy lifestyle
- Because I like to solve problems and experience the personal growth that comes through facing challenges
- Because the transmutation of my labor into service and wealth means there will be less poverty and suffering in the world
- Because I want to amass excess capital so I can use it to support bold, risky ideas that have the potential to solve people’s problems
- Because humanity’s survival and prosperity is not guaranteed and perhaps even improbable
- Because, believing the above bullet, it still helps me to sleep at night
Why do you work?