Why We Work

We spend most of our adult life at work.  Even when we aren't at work, we spend most of our non-working time thinking about work.  Work can be the source of joy, happiness, and excitement.  But, sometimes work can be the cause of stress, fear, anxiety and disappointment.  We all have those moments when we wake up exciting about work; I usually told everyone that my favorite day of the week is Monday because it's the beginning of a new work week which I again get to make a difference.  But sometimes, work can become so challenging that it drains us, and causes us wonder whether it's all worth it.  In those challenging moments, it's important to ask ourselves "why do we work?"  Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor, used to say: A man can overcome almost anything if he knows the why. 

When we face tough situations at work, it's important to come back to the root and answer the question "why we work".  Knowing the why can give you the courage and perseverance to sail through the rough sea.

The most frequent and easiest answer that we would come up with is - we work because we need money.  We all have obligations, - children that we raise, the charity organizations that we support, the material needs and wants that our lifestyle requires.  But, is "money" the sole reason of why we work?  We need to dig deeper than that.  As we dig deeper, we may discover that money is just a means to an end.  Money is a useful vessel that helps us achieve our other end goals - happiness, relationship, love, the feeling of belonging, self-actualization, and probably a feeling of living a life worth living.  Maslow's hierarchy of needs describes that there are 5 rungs of human needs:

1. At the bottom rung is physiology needs - the needs to have food, air, water and shelter.
2. At the second rung is safety needs - the need to be healthy and to be safe.
3. At the third rung is the need to feel loved, belonged, to be with one's family and a community.
4. At the fourth rung is the need to feel confident, and respected.
5. And the highest rung that every human aspires to get to (regardless whether he knows it or not) is self-actualization - it's the need to achieve one's maximum potential.

Often we mistake the means for the end.  We chase after money and fame, trying to climb up the corporate ladder, stepping on top of one another, but sacrifice the relationship at work, forgo our time with family, neglect our health, and forget the deeper reason of why we work.  It is important for each of us to take the time to think and internalize the reasons of why we work.

The why within each of us is different.  I work because if fuels my desire for learning and helps me grow.  I work because through my work I can contribute to make the world a better place.  I work because I love the people I work with and believe I can make a positive difference in their lives. When one of these 3 conditions is threatened, I would feel thrown off balance.  Then, it would be time for me re-evaluate my path. 

Your why will be different than mine.  But, understanding your why will help you overcome difficult time at work and make the difficult decision of whether you should stay or leave.  Noone wants to be on their death bed and regret that they have spent most of their life working in the wrong place or the wrong career.  One of my mentors used to tell me "we are spiritual being in a human body.  As a spiritual being, our soul always yearns for something larger than what the materialistic world can offer.  Find that larger purpose and help your soul soar." 

Many years ago, I met a young rising star at work.  One day, I asked her how she was doing, and her reply puzzled me.  She said "I'm surviving the rat race".  Really!  Is it all there is to work?  A rat race.  Even the sound of it doesn't sound very appealing.  I would like my work to mean more than that; I don't think I even want to win any race that has the word "rat" in it. 

There is a parable about the three bricklayers.  The first bricklayer, when asked "what are you doing", to which he replied, "I'm laying bricks."  To the second bricklayer, he said "I'm building a wall."  To the third bricklayer, he replied with a gleam in his eyes, "I'm building a cathedral which will be a place of healing for millions of people."

Which one of the bricklayers are you?

"If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Understanding why you work will help you be the person that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say - here is a person who has done her job well. 

With loving heart,

Thanh Nguyen