“Law school sucked all the life and creativity out of me.” 
“I’ve never been happy practicing law.” 
“I have never had a sense of purpose.” 
“I feel destined to do something great, but have no idea why or what.”  “I work only for the money.”

These are statements from a young attorney, who in his last position had been sick for 6 months, “triggered initially by stress.”  But a new “career opportunity” presented itself and he is now working in a prestigious position with a Fortune 500 company.  Unfortunately, the sickness is returning, starting with the symptoms of a choking feeling and shortness of breath.

Ultimately, money is never enough compensation for investing our time and energy.  There must be a sense of meaning, purpose, and accomplishment.  Anything that does not blend our values, dreams and passions will cause us on some level to choke.  Events since 9/11 have caused all of us to “reassess what’s important.”  A life well lived must go beyond just making a paycheck, even if it’s a very large one.

"Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.” 

Ecclesiastes 5:10

If money is the only reward of your job, you will begin to see deterioration in other areas of your life – physically, emotionally, spiritually, and relationally.

"That every man find pleasure in his work -- this is a gift of God."

Ecclesiastes 3:13

I have been working with a media executive, whose salary after 21 years with the same company is in excess of $330,000.  In the process of taking a “life inventory,” she said she is “waking up to things that are important to me” for the very first time.  The intense focus on work has caused her to miss many deposits of success in other areas of her life.

Incidentally, I have to add an interesting side note here.  Proper alignment in doing work we love does not mean the family will be eating rice and beans.  In fact, the opposite is more often what I see occur.  I have seen people increase their income by 4 to 5 times as they move into the freedom of finding God’s authentic path for their work and lives.  Proper alignment releases not only a sense of peace and accomplishment, but money is likely to break in on you like an exploding flood of fresh water.

From the Bible

“Has the Lord as much pleasure in your burnt offerings and sacrifices as in your obedience?  Obedience is far better than sacrifice.  He is much more interested in your listening to him than in your offering the fat of rams to him.”  I Samuel 15: 22 (TLB)

Direction for Today

What are those dreams you have buried in the daily pressure to be “practical” and “realistic?”  How could you tap into and release those for higher levels of success?

Dan's two Workbook & CD sets, 48 Days To The Work You Love and 48 Days To Creative Income were created to help you clarify what you were meant to do and develop a plan of action to make it happen quickly!