Ah, the old adage: Are you living to work or working to live? Notice how both require work to support life, however, the turn of phrase reflects a deeper question. When you think about work, how does your heart react? Take a minute and ponder what you’re feeling.

When your lifestyle begins to rob you of joy and fulfillment, it makes work a heck of a lot harder and most likely, requires a heck of a lot more of it. Somehow the idea of happiness becomes synonymous with delayed gratification, something that will come in the future but that you desperately want today. 

Let’s define work as the energy expended to support your life. Notice the definition does not read the energy expended to support your lifestyle. This is an important distinction. The way you live your life becomes your lifestyle. 

Let’s define life as the people, objects, work, feelings, and home you interact with everyday. Let’s define lifestyle as the energy, expenses, and emotion that your life requires. Grab a cup of your favorite morning drink and spend 30 minutes reflecting on both, writing out what each means to you.

Simply put, it’s hard to find work to be rewarding and fulfilling when it’s a means to an end. How much of your life is supporting your lifestyle; robbing you of the life you desperately desire to have?