The work you do is your contribution to society.
It took me a really long time to figure that out, possibly longer than the average working person because I had been a stay at home mom for so long.
For a long time, my view on working was purely selfish. I thought the work we did was all about us, so that we could get money to buy what we wanted.
And it is…which is a kind of ingenious way to encourage the majority of us to be contributors… but in the grand scheme of things that’s not what work is about at all.
Work is about contributing to society and doing your part to make this whole human experience come together. It’s about making the lives of others easier by helping them get what they want, do what they need to do, or feel better or live longer… depending on what kind of work you choose.
The people who carry the most responsibility for helping others get the most reward. These are the entrepreneurs or freelancers, the doctors and lawyers… the people who are here to serve others.
They build a legacy, respect, and admiration (or sometimes misguided admiration called jealousy).
They get to make the decisions, they have the most freedom of choice, and if they manage to pull it all off in a way that makes a difference in the lives of others, they are paid well for it.
In the old school of life people who were greedy and selfish and could reap partial rewards and may have ended up with big bank accounts, but I think those days are slowly coming to an end. People are smart, want to be treated well, and have tools and resources to seek out the largest contributors.
If you think the work you do is all about you, take a step back. You are contributing to society… if you want to have a larger impact you need to level up, take more responsibility, and help others get what they want. That doesn’t always look the way you think it should.