An article I was reading in Harvard Business Review had a very interesting title. Written by Andy Molinsky, it said, "What To Do When Your Heart Isn't In Your Work Anymore." I liked the assumption that, increasingly, there are people out there whose hearts are not really involved in their work. As I've talked to different people over the last few months, I have come across many people who seem to have a little bit of tension with their work. They don't feel the same zest that they had earlier on, they don't find meaning in what they are doing, or interests have changed. There seems to be a residual sense of unrest or disquiet or dissatisfaction in their relationship with their work. I realized that a lot of them feel a little guilty about where they are, wondering whether or not they are being true to the companies that they work for and the people that they are responsible to.
I felt that this might be something to look into, because there is more to it than meets the eye. We cannot expect to be in the same place where we were many years ago. We evolve, we change, we have different interests, we have responsibilities that have changed. Things are not the same as when we first started working. To acknowledge that there is change is the first criteria to be able to understand how to manage the change or attitudinal change in the way you look at your work.
Andy Molinsky says, "Don't force your 40-, 50-, or 60-year-old self into your 20-year-old sense of ambition." I like that quote! Things have changed and we've got to recognize that. In fact, a book that came out in 1985, 'Habits of the Heart,' talks about three distinct relations people have with their work. This might be enlightening for us as we look at our own relationships with work. The three relations people can have with their work: they either look at their work as a job, or as a career, or as a calling.
When we look at it as a job, we're only interested in its material benefits. "What do I get out of it?" it's a means to acquire resources that are needed, to enjoy the things that I can do outside of work – plan a vacation, go out, get involved in a project, etc. Major interests or ambition are not expressed or achieved through their work. So, people look at it as just a job.
But, if it's a career, then there's a great sense of personal involvement with their work and it's marked by achievements, both in terms of monetary gain and an advancement within the structure of the company. It brings, maybe, higher social standing, an increased sense of power and prestige at work and even higher self-esteem for the worker. This is where a person is dedicated to making their work a career.
The third is a calling, and in this area, people find their work and their life are intrinsically bound together. They are inseparable. The work that they do is not so much for career gain or financial rewards, but for a sense of fulfillment that it brings to the individual. Their work, most often, has a value for society and is often very pleasurable and fulfilling to them.
So, as you look at these three categories which have been outlined in this book, I want you to look at yourself and ask yourself in which category you fall. These are three valid categories – a job, a career, or a calling. When we only look at it through a myopic lens and say, "I'm going to do my work and yet, I don't seem to have the same zest that I had before," there seems to be a sense of guilt that we're not really doing what we need to do. And yet, when we look at the way that the authors have delineated these 3 areas, we find that it is possible for us to have a different outlook to our work and still be okay with it.
What's the key in looking at it as a job, or a career, or a calling? The key is that we bring our best game to work. Then whether we see it as just a job, a means to an end, or an end in itself, or a career path, during the time that we work, we give of our very best. And that's the key – to move away from how we look at it, to what we put into it.
In our Holy Scriptures, there is a verse that says: "We must do everything as unto the Lord." I think that's what we need to bring into our work. Don't worry about whether you have the same idea about it as you had before, or the same involvement, or the same passion or interest. What matters today is that you bring your best game, that you make it the best thing that you can give as an offering to the Almighty God. And if you do that, then nothing else matters.
So, as you think about this, I'm hoping that the sense of disquiet or guilt will move away and you'll replace it with a better understanding of the relationships that we can have with our work and we can come to terms with giving of our very best and being satisfied with it.
May I pray with you? Almighty God, help us to understand our work in these areas as a job, as a career or as a calling. Remove any sense of guilt or feeling of inadequacy or anything that may diminish us or the kind of work that we do. Instead help us to look at our work as a wonderful offering to you, giving you our very best. In Jesus' precious name we pray. Amen.
· Andy Molinsky, "What to do when Your Heart Isn't In Your Work Anymore." https://hbr.org/2017/07/what-to-do-when-your-heart-isnt-in-your-work-anymore
· Bellah, R. N., Madsen, R., Sullivan, W. M., Swidler, A., & Tipton, S. M. (1985). Habits of the heart. New York: Harper & Row.
· "American Workplace Changing at a Dizzying Pace." http://news.gallup.com/businessjournal/203957/american-workplace-changing-dizzying-pace.aspx
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