Why work?

Imagine something with me for a moment. You are unbelievably wealthy and debt-free. You don’t have to work for the income it brings you, but still, you do work. Because you aren’t concerned with the amount of your paycheck, you are able to choose the work you want to do for the pure joy and pleasure of it. What would you choose? What would you do?

Do you have an answer in mind?

For some of you, your answer will be remarkably different from the job you have right now; your work is just that, a job.

For others, your answer will reveal that you are blessed; you are in the role you have chosen. The fact that someone may pay you to do it, (or, in the case of those who are self-employed, you profit from it) is simply icing on the cake; it’s an added bonus.

When we choose work that brings joy to our lives, we have made one of the smartest, most life-enhancing choices we can possibly make. Passion cannot be overrated.

We can answer this question, why work, in a number of different ways. I’d like to suggest some for you;

• Work in celebration of your natural strengths, talents and gifts.
• Work to make your weaknesses irrelevant, for they are.
• Work at something you love doing, something that brings you joy.
• Work to feel the satisfaction of good hard work, of intentional effort.
• Work to break a sweat, and to get dirty and gritty and real.
• Work to fulfill your personal mission, or
• Work to show your agreement with another’s mission.
• Work to make a difference, to feel fulfilled, to “make meaning.”
• Work to serve others well, and serve your spirit for giving.
• Work to support someone you care about.
• Work to help someone you believe in.
• Work to learn what you don’t yet know, and
• Work to teach, coach, and mentor others as only you can.
• Work for a cause you feel deeply about.
• Work to leave a legacy.
• Work to create a better future.
• Work to deliver a gift to humanity.

Do these things, and you Ho‘ohana (the Hawaiian value for intentional and worthwhile work). You work for yourself. And in the process, I can guarantee you will bring more value to your life, and to your world.

I am quite sure you can add a multitude of other reasons to plunge yourself into the pleasures of work.

Why do you do it?

• Related article, with more on Ho‘ohana: Joyful Passion and Ho‘ohana
• Today: Rosa will be Wayne Hurlbert’s guest on Blog Talk Radio, and you can hear her talk about Ho‘ohana. The show broadcasts live at 2:00pm Hawai‘i time, 8:00pm Eastern. Thereafter, it will be available for download as a podcast for iPod and MP3 players; or you can play it right on your computer. Click in here.

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Rosa Say is the author of Managing with Aloha, Bringing Hawaii’s Universal Values to the Art of Business and the Talking Story blog. She is the founder of Say Leadership Coaching, a company dedicated to bringing nobility to the working arts of management and leadership. Her most recent online collaboration effort is JJLN: the Joyful Jubilant Learning Network.
For more of Rosa’s ideas, click to her Thursday columns in the archives; you’ll find her index in the left column of www.ManagingWithAloha.com

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