We live in a world where everything looks so easy to do. Thank God for YouTube and TikTok, right? Overnight, someone is a millionaire (and, no, it’s not because they won the lottery). Gone are the days of “hard work;” at least, that’s the impression you get on social media. After all, just start an OnlyFans or become some kind of influencer or do brand marketing. Passive income seems to be the #1 way to make money now rather than logging long hours at the office and earning your pay. How do I barely work and make millions of dollars a year? Isn’t that the dream?
Are gone the days of doing what you love? Or is the idea to do something that apparently pays an astronomical amount and then you can do what you love? Is there no longer a desire to have a career that motivates you and that you want to get up and do every day? Are we just lazy and unwilling to face “the daily grind”? Our grandparents would certainly argue that. Are we fine with settling?
The expression “live to work” is often criticized by Millennials and younger who believe in a balanced life that our parents and grandparents never had. We (the Millennials and younger) have rebelled against that phrase with emphasizing the importance, instead, of “working to live,” meaning having a job that pays for the lifestyle we desire but not making unnecessary sacrifices for bosses who are divorced and whose children never visit. As long as we have balanced lives, all is well. And if you’re a Millennial or younger and you have a partner, you probably both work, so one partner doesn’t have to make all the sacrifices.
If we are fine with simply “existing” at work, are we looking at a future filled with people who only “work to live;” doing a job you don’t care for just because it pays your bills and lifestyle; using the money you earn to jet set across the globe but never contribute anything of real value or substance to our society; not using your “privilege” to leave the world a better place than you found it when there’s so many who would do anything for 1% of the freedom, choice and resources you have? I’m talking directly to those of you with “first world problems.”
Imagine if you had passion for your work and looked forward to getting after it day after day. What about feeling like your career had meaning and that aligned with your mission statement? How about performing a job that you would be proud for others to read about in your obituary? Shouldn’t that be the standard?
If you’re passionate about your career and are living your purpose, wouldn’t you, in some respects, “live to work”? Can’t we have it both ways – live to work and work to live? Love what you do, and do it so you can live the amazing life you’ve dreamt for yourself? Living and working coexisting rather than competing… Now, that feels almost revolutionary.
You have a choice. We all do. Some of us were born on third base, but that is no indication of whether we make it to home plate. Be grateful to be alive and that you have any number of days on this planet. And do something good with your life, no matter how big or small. As far as we know it, we have one shot at this life we were given. Wouldn’t you like to fill that time living and working in pursuit of your purpose?
Now, off you go.
