Bottom Line
Whether you work to live or live to work, what work means to you should be based on what will make you happy. Once you figure that out, it will be much easier to plan your life in the short and long term. Remember that you will always have to make tradeoffs because it is impossible to have everything in life. So, set your priorities, commit to a path, and go from there.
Live to Work?
What's your opinion about work? Are you a high-achieving, type A personality to the extent that your work defines you? Is work your top priority? Do you love your work? Are you, or do you plan to be an entrepreneur? If yes, then you likely live to work.
Work to live?
Alternatively, do you see work as a way to pay the bills and make ends meet? Do you work all week so that you can pursue your passion at the weekend, whether it be an outdoor lifestyle, a sport, or another interest? Is work something that you wouldn't do if you didn't have to? Is work-life balance a priority? If this sounds more like you, you likely work to live.
Agree to disagree
Neither practice is right or wrong. How you approach work should depend on what makes you happy in life.
Let us examine what the two terms mean and the differences between working to live and living to work.
Let us look at the advantages and disadvantages of each approach.
Finally, let's look at a third option that could be a happy medium.
Is There a Happy Medium? Or illusion?
Working to live and living to work are two extremes, and you don’t have to go to either extreme.
It is possible to love your work, to have a strong work ethic, and to find balance with family life, personal time, and work. Here are some tips for doing so.
1. Prioritize
Think about your priorities. What do you want to achieve in the short term and in the long term? You should also consider how much time you have, and what you can feasibly get done.
It may not be possible to balance launching a business by a certain date, spend quality family time, and train for a marathon all at the same time. You might have to make a temporary sacrifice, launch the business first, and then plan to back off on your work and focus on family.
2. Find Balance ♎ ⚖️
Look at what you want to achieve, and plan your time accordingly. Leave time for essentials like exercise and maintaining your wellbeing. If you have to focus on work intensively for a period, plan some downtime afterward so you can recharge.
3. Create Boundaries
Maintain boundaries so that you don’t blur the lines between work and home life. That includes looking at your physical space. For example, the recent COVID-19 pandemic forced many people to work at home. But working in your living room encroaches on your personal time. Allocate a place and time for work that is away from your personal space if you can. That will help you to mentally switch off from work when you need to.
If you work from home, dedicate a space as your office. It can be tempting to work if your office is in the next room, so plan to leave the home when you want to spend free time with family, friends, or otherwise spend personal time.
Bottom Line Repeat
Whether you work to live or live to work, what work means to you should be based on what will make you happy. Once you figure that out, it will be much easier to plan your life in the short and long term. Remember that you will always have to make tradeoffs because it is impossible to have everything in life. So, set your priorities, commit to a path, and go from there.
Deciding Which Is For You
Choosing one lifestyle over another comes down to what makes you happy. What is most important to you? Is it a successful career? Is it spending time with your family? Is it your health or your hobbies? Once you determine your priorities, you can then select which mindset you should assume.
Remember that your priorities will change over your lifetime. If you are a young professional with no family obligations, now is the time to prioritize your career. If you are married and starting a family, you might prioritize your career less and want some flexibility so that you can spend time with your loved ones.
The truth is there is no right or wrong way to approach your career or to live your life. The choice essentially comes down to your beliefs and values and how you feel you should spend your time.
Living to Work—Pros and Cons
If you choose to live to work, the advantages are that you are more likely to advance professionally because your full-time work is your focus. Most likely, if you have this mindset, you love what you do. You may become an entrepreneur and launch a successful business.
The disadvantages of living to work are that you could burn out. Working constantly and leaving little time for family or your personal life can be stressful for both young people and old. Stress is detrimental to your mental and physical wellbeing.
People who live to work can become consumed by their work. This is often the case for business owners who shoulder the responsibility of managing their company. Because they are so passionate about their business venture, business owners are typically workaholics.
Working to Live—Pros and Cons
If you choose to work to live, you have a job for the sole purpose of earning the necessary amount of money to support yourself and your family. You may hate your job, and you might just tolerate the working week and look forward to the weekends. Your priority is not your job.
The advantages are that you will have more time for your personal life because you are less concerned with advancing professionally or gaining wealth. You should be less stressed because you are taking on a smaller workload or choosing to have less responsibility. The goal is to make enough money to live comfortably and to be satisfied with a certain lifestyle.
The disadvantages of working to live are that you are unlikely to become an entrepreneur or to become super-wealthy. Also, if you don’t like what you do, you may be unhappy for forty hours a week, which can make life unliveable. Unbearable Stress overtime.
What Is Working to Live?
Working to live means that work is not your priority. It is working to the extent that you earn enough to support yourself and your family. Working to live is choosing a comfortable job rather than hard work, long hours, and always going the extra mile to advance your career. Working to live implies taking a better work arrangement that is less stressful and gives you time and energy for other aspects of your life.
For example, a job in a large organization may be very different to a high-energy startup. Large organizations tend to be more bureaucratic and slower moving, so there is less pressure to meet deadlines. In a high-energy startup, there is pressure to maintain a certain pace and to achieve a goal within a certain timeframe.
What Is Living to Work?
In a high-energy startup, co-workers are a team and intensely focused on a goal for a certain period. The mindset is living to work because the product is the focus of their existence. An entrepreneur lives to work because they must put 100 percent of their energy and time into building their business. Entrepreneurs are usually doing what they love. As the saying goes, “Do what you love, and the money will come.”
Here Are Key 🗝️ Points About Work in the Bible Every Truth Seeker Should Know
10 key points from the Bible give a foundation for believers asking what the Bible says about our work or life.
Following perspective on work and live.
The Bible makes it clear that work matters to God. No matter what your profession or occupation – whether you’re a parent, a bus driver, an artist or an engineer – God cares about your work. Here are ten key points about work drawn from the Bible. They provide a practical foundation for Christians asking what the Bible says about how we should approach our work.
• 1) Work is part of God’s big picture.
God created all things and He has revealed that, in His sovereignty, He is progressing created order through a process of Creation, Fall and Redemption. God’s created order started with the perfect garden (Garden of Eden) and will be consummated in the perfect city (New Jerusalem).
Explore this idea further by reading the following Bible verses:
• Revelation 21:1-22:5 ( click here )
• Isaiah 65
• Genesis 2
• Genesis 1
• 2) Our actual work matters to God, now and eternally.
God has chosen to create human in His image to, among other things, work and tend this created order for His glory and for the betterment of humankind. In ways we can’t fully understand, the good work we do now, done with and for Him, will survive into the New Jerusalem. Work itself has intrinsic value.
• 3) God provides us with unique skills, gifts and talents, and calls us to particular roles and activities.
Although the roles might have apparent differences in importance, our callings are equal. They are a spiritual calling. There are no second-class callings from God. We will be worthy of this calling if we are devoted in our relationship with Him and look to Him only for leadership and strength.
Explore this idea further by reading the following Bible verses:
• Exodus 31:1-5 Bezalel and Oholiab
31:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “See, I have chosen Bezalell son of Uri, the son of Hur,m of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledgen and with all kinds of skillso—4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 5 to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.
• Romans 12:6-8 ⁶ We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; ⁷ if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; ⁸ if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving…
• 1 Corinthians 12:28
• Ephesians 4:11-16
• Matthew 25:14-30
• 4) Quality, character, and ethics are foundational for our work.
We are responsible not only for the quality of our work, but also for our faithfulness to God in the way we pursue that work, and for our own good character while working. We will be judged and rewarded accordingly. However, God is ultimately responsible for the outcome and impact of our work.
Explore this idea further by reading the following Bible passages:
• Matthew 25:21
•Colossians 3:23-24
•1 Corinthians 3:10-15 & 15:58
•Jeremiah 17:10
•Matthew 16:27
•Revelation 22:12
•2 Thessalonians 1:11
•Ezekiel 36:30
• 5) Our work is yoked with Christ.
We should work as if yoked to Jesus Christ. The “foundation of His throne is Righteousness and Justice, with Love and Faithfulness going before Him.” Our work, and the decisions we make, should be based on these principles: aligned with God’s moral standards, always concerned with the fair treatment of others and with a clear expression of Christ’s love for all people.
Explore this idea by reading the following Bible verses:
• 2 Corinthians 6:14-15
•Matthew 11:29-30
•Psalm 89:14
•Exodus 20:2-17
•Mark 12:31
•Matthew 25:35-36
• 6) Our work should be centered on service to others.
From the products and services we provide, to providing fair financial rewards, and providing opportunities for others to exercise their gifts and talents. Our work is an opportunity to seek the peace and well being of our organizations, cities, and nations. Humility and gratitude should be the hallmark of our character. We should always acknowledge God in our work and consider that being an ambassador for Him is a weighty, but honored, responsibility.
Explore this idea further by reading the following Bible passages:
•2 Corinthians 5:16-21
•Mark 12:31
•Matthew 7:12
•Philippians 2:3-4
•Galatians 5:13
•1 Peter 4:10
•Romans 12:16
•Matthew 5:13-14
•1 Peter 3:15
•2 Corinthians 5:20
•Matthew 28:19-20
•1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
• 7) A rhythm of work and rest is essential to life. God invites us into a deliberate pattern of regular rest. These periods of rest are intended to be restorative and are also opportunities to intentionally take time to consider Christ and our relationship with Him.
Explore this idea further by reading the following Bible passages:
• Exodus 20:8-11
• John 15:4
• Hebrews 4:10
• 1 John 3:19
• 8) The use of wealth and our investments should be directed by God.
We should allow God to direct the use of all that He has provided through our work for the betterment of others and the furthering of His kingdom. These provisions include our gifts, time, financial capability and influence.
Explore this idea further by reading the following Bible passages:
•1 Corinthians 4:7
•1 Timothy 6:17-19
•Isaiah 58:10
•Acts 2:45
•Romans 12:13
•Hebrews 13:16
•Philippians 4:15-19
• 9) God's work multiplies through relationships and through the local church:
We need to be in relationship with other followers of Christ to provide support and accountability. We should look for mentors and look to mentor others. We should commit to our local church body and help to bring the world of work into the church and the church into the world of work.
Explore this idea further by reading the following Bible passages:
• 1 Timothy 3:15
• 1 Corinthians 12:27
• Ephesians 4:12-13
• Acts 2:42-47 & 11:26
• Titus 2:3-8
• Proverbs 27:17
• 1 Thessalonians 2:8
• Deuteronomy 6:4-9
• 10) Work is a gift from God.
We should always acknowledge that work is a gift from God, as is our ability to be happy in it. Alternatively, labor and achievement that spring from our envy of others is meaningless and will never bring contentment and joy. We look forward to the day when we will work together in perfect harmony in the presence of God in the New Jerusalem.
Explore this idea further by reading the following Bible passages:
• Ecclesiastes 5:19
• Ecclesiastes 4:4
• Ecclesiastes 2:4-11
• Isaiah 65:21-23
No comments:
Post a Comment