“We often miss opportunity because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work.” ― Thomas A. Edison
The average person will spend 20% of their lives at work. This statistic factors in 21 years of preparing for work and 13 years afterwards (retirement). During our actual years of working (ages 21-67), this percentage goes up to 25-30% based on a typical 40-45 hour/week. Subtracting sleep, on average, we spend 33% of our waking hours working.
We spend a significant amount of our life working. It is a large piece of our life. And it is important to think thoughtfully and intentionally about it.
I have known countless people who are happy with their work. They find meaning, significance, and joy in it. Additionally, I have met many people who are unhappy with their work and choose to spend an additional percentage of their life complaining about it.
Interestingly enough, these differences in attitudes have little to do with the actual work being done—in fact, two people in the same field can have completely different responses to the same job.
This is helpful because it means enjoying work has less to do with your actual job and more to do with your attitude towards it. Changing our attitude towards work is often far easier than changing jobs. It also means that, with only a few exceptions, you can be happy in your work today. You can find joy and fulfillment in it.
And sometimes, this can come with a simple change in thinking.
A 7-Step Path to Enjoying Work
1. Realize you were designed to work.
Whether by creation or evolution, humans are designed to work. This is an important part of our nature. It explains our drive to grow as individuals and as a society. It explains the internal satisfaction we experience when completing a task. It makes sense of the positive emotions we experience when resting after a hard day of work. And it may help us understand why some studies indicate early retirement has an adverse impact on physical and mental health.
The realization that we are designed to work is an important first step in finding fulfillment in it–even though “work” looks different for each of us. If we are designed to accomplish work, it is not something to be avoided. Instead, it is something to be sought, welcomed, and enjoyed.
2. Understand work takes place in an imperfect world.
Our world is imperfect because we exist in a universe full of people who often fall short. Though we each have an ingrained desire to accomplish good for the sake of others, in reality, we often function with selfish desires and intentions. These imperfections always lead to less-than-ideal working conditions. As a result, work includes overbearing bosses, deadlines, stress, under-resourced projects, tasks we do not enjoy, and often, anxiety.
The realization that these imperfections are always going to be present in our workplace allows us to accept them and move forward. Now just to be clear, this present reality does not mean we don’t fight for equality and justice when appropriate. But it does mean we can stop looking for joy in the perfect work environment because it doesn’t exist. And it opens the door to finding joy in our existing one.
3. Use work to supply provisions for yourself and your family.
In its simplest definition, work is a bartering tool. We work our jobs in exchange for money. This money is then given to another in exchange for growing food, producing clothing, building shelter, or discovering new medicine to keep us healthy. Because of work, we are freed to spend our days doing what we love and are good at. In exchange, we receive goods (money) to trade with someone else who used their giftedness to create something different than us.
This is the goal of work. This is also the prescribed means of providing for those who are dependent upon us. Looking for shortcuts (lottery, dishonest gain, unnecessary dependence on others) to supply provisions is often a foolish direction for life.
4. Notice how your work contributes to the common good.
If the goal of our work is to contribute good to society in exchange for provision, then our work ought to benefit society. We should spend 40-45+ hours/week producing a benefit for others. We should grow healthy food, produce quality clothing, intentionally parent children, create beautiful art, build strong shelter, develop new life-enhancing technology, research medicine to prolong life, educate others, govern society honestly, or any other countless opportunities to contribute to the common good of our neighbor and our society.
This step results in 1 of 2 possible outcomes: First, it forces us to view work differently. It allows us to wake up on Monday morning with a positive attitude and opens up the door to finding new joy in our role. We are not solely working for the Net Income box on our paycheck… we are working to benefit society. Or second, this truth forces us to find new work. If, for whatever reason, we do not believe our job is contributing good to society, we must find a new one. No dollar amount can ever equal the satisfaction and joy experienced in contributing good to the world around us—for this is the purpose of work.
5. Work ethically.
Work done ethically and honestly with proper balance will always result in more enjoyment than the alternative. These same principles of life hold true to every aspect—including the 20% we spent working.
6. Humbly and proudly accept honest compensation.
We each have skills and talents this world needs. There are other people willing to compensate us in exchange for them. Therefore, we ought to work hard at proudly developing our craft and humbly learning as much as we can from others who have gone before. It is also wise to discipline ourselves around the improvement of these skills and talents. The greater we develop them, the greater worth we are to others. And the greater worth we are to others, the more honest compensation we should receive for providing them.
7. Remove the pursuit of riches.
While honest compensation should always be sought with both humility and pride, the pursuit of riches and wealth as an end goal is always a losing battle. Riches will never fully satisfy… we will always be left searching for more. People who view their work as only a means to get rich often fall into temptation, harmful behavior, and foolish desires.
The intentional understanding of steps 6 and 7 provide great freedom for us to enjoy work on a whole new level. When we replace the desire to get rich with a more life-fulfilling desire to receive honest compensation, we open our hearts to find peace in our paychecks and greater value in our work.
Indeed, may each of us find greater value and fulfillment in our work. And in so doing, may we increase joy in this important (and essential) aspect of our lives.
Image: Vince Alongi
Terry Hadaway says
Too many people are looking for a way to escape work and… hmmm. Work isn’t the issue; meaningful work is. When we discover our purposes (or whys), we will change our attitudes toward work and start living to inspire not retire (http://wp.me/p36il6-1r).
Rachel says
Really enjoyed this article….especially because my work as a schoolteacher is unbelievably challenging and today was one of those ‘consider a career change’ days….thank you!
carmina says
I have recently accepted a part time job for 3 months teaching. It is a great job professionally speaking. However I leave my young son at the sitter while at work. After the first month I miss him so much that the money I earn is not worth it. I was offered two different positions for next year and I politely declined. I want to be with my son and once he grows I will have time to teach again. I will go back to living with less but with joy in my heart because my son and I will be together. The extra money is nice but I don’t need it to provide basic necessities.
Tanya says
Never dismiss the notion of mother’s work (or father’s work). It is very important and contributes to mankind and society in a grand way. Work is not solely that which is paid for.
Karen Taylor says
Thanks for some great insights here some reminescent of the Protestant Work Ethic…surely applicable to much of North American society but perhaps not so much to the global community. Do all cultures employ the greeting/question “what is your name and what do you do?” or “what do you want to be when you grow up?” I imagine not. I “work” with many clients who are chronically unemployed and homeless, often due to mental illness. The human need for contribution may be a more common ground cross-culturally.
Jamil Popatia says
Karen, this is a great point. I am a Vancouverite who has lived in 5 foreign countries and visited many others. You are ‘bang on’ about those questions. If you ask the average rural Moroccan, for example, about who they are and what they do, answering endlessly about their careers would be far from their minds. Excellent observation, Karen. Bless.
Kate@organizationforthetypeB says
I enjoyed this, especially #7. Somehow I always feel that I could only ever work for a non-profit. Not that there is inherently anything wrong with making a profit, but like you said, riches and wealth as an end goal is always a losing battle.
Kate
Kuwanna says
And #6…while many of my friends and colleagues expect raises and bonuses that keep them competetive with their counterparts in other companies, I have always been thankful for whatever raise or bonus I get and remember that many out there aren’t as blessed as I am. Who cares if the bonus is a little less than someone else’s? It’s nice that the company is recognizing any of us in the first place!
Kuwanna says
Thank you for #4. I work a lucrative job that I have felt for some time does not allow me to positively impact any individual’s life. I do what I can…I am there for my coworkers when they need to talk, share what I know about nutrition…for their benefit…but what pays for my gas and food (i.e. what I am here 9 hours for each day) doesn’t require me to do these things. So I have been considering a career change, and reading what you said in #4 really makes sense to me. Thank you.
Mark says
This is a great article. A great look at how we can reframe our minds and focus to find more joy and fulfillment. Thank you for your words, observations, and wisdom.
-Minimalist In Training
joshua becker says
Thanks Mark.
Benjamin Wagner says
“1. Realize you were designed to work.
Whether by creation or evolution, humans are designed to work. This is an important part of our nature. It explains our drive to grow as individuals and as a society. It explains the internal satisfaction we experience when completing a task.”
This is a statement with very loose foundation. Even if it was somehow proved that humans are “made” to be active in different ways, it certainly is not a fait accompli that we are fit to work in the same kind of system we have today, often repeating uncreative tasks. The amount of time per day that we are set to work is also reasonable to question.
sandy says
I agree, Benjamin.
If anything, we were designed to be hunter-gatherers.
Are we meant to move? Yes. Are we meant to sit in a chair at a desk for 8-12 hours per day? Nope.
“Our drive to grow as individuals and as society” is actually people trying to both avoid pain and capture pleasure. This “satisfaction” from completion… is usually ego driven (accomplish, win, be important, control, acquire, prove etc).
Only when enough people realize and demonstrate that our natural state is one of “being” not “doing” will this or anything else important surface and sustain.
In the meantime, love your work, hang with good people, laugh often, and know that all of this crazy world is a huge gift to us. Gratitude, gratitude, gratitude.
Yes, we still chop wood and carry water and take whatever actions are needed in the moment.
joshua becker says
Benjamin and Sandy, I appreciate your comments. Thought #1 is entirely foundational to my understanding of work—indeed, the entire argument of the post rests upon it. As a result I tried to spend a bit more time on it than the other points. That being said, the foundation upon which that point is made is deeply rooted in my understanding of the universe and humanity.
Theologically speaking, I believe God created mankind with a desire to work. Evolutionally speaking, I believe the same argument should be made. Only a species that chooses to work and provide and contribute would be fit to withstand. What that “work” should look like and/or the amount of time that should be contributed towards it is certainly debatable. But I do not believe the assumption that mankind is created and/or designed to work is a debatable point. It is also the first necessary thinking required to find joy in it.
Brown Vagabonder says
I have a really hard time with the concept with work as it is in the modern-day world. People have replaced their lives with work. They do not talk about living their life, as they do about work. Everything, even happiness is replaced by work. Maybe I am being a little bit too dire about the situation, but I find this constant obsession with work has to stop. Work should be a small part of your life, not your entire life. Thank you for some amazing points that remind me why I’m working – to achieve the financial freedom that we all crave.
Mira says
I agree with you completely.
However, I do think this post offers some valuable advice in terms of adapting our outlook to minimise suffering.
joshua becker says
Thanks for the comment. Certainly this is not a post promoting obsession with work. I do make mention of remembering the importance of balance and work. If there was a motivation behind this post, it was written in response to the notion that happiness is found in avoiding work altogether. This, I believe, is an incorrect pursuit. Happiness is not found in the avoidance of work. Happiness is found in the correct motivation and attitude towards it.
Brownvagabonder says
I totally agree – Happiness cannot be found in avoiding work. Work is absolutely necessary in order to live the lives you wish to live in modern-day society.
There are some who are trying out the concept of living without money or work, and I find that they are unable to live without relying on the generosity of others who do work. Thanks for the clarification.