Understand the Value of Your Work

If you ask someone how they think people define spirituality, they will most likely tell you that people's definitions will vary widely, because that is the conventional wisdom on the subject. Most of us assume that spirituality is something extremely personal and thus our definitions are situational and individual.

Interestingly, the few studies that have been done on the subject indicate that respondents tend to have a very similar definition and understanding of spirituality. In the book A Spiritual Audit of Corporate America, author Ian Mitroff uses the results of one such study to offer this definition of spirituality: "[Spirituality] is the basic desire to find ultimate meaning and purpose in one's life and to live an integrated life."

Given this definition, I think it becomes pretty clear that there is a significant difference between spirituality and religion. Obviously, spirituality will be strongly connected to religion because the focus is on living an integrated life, but it's important to acknowledge the distinction between the two. Because of this distinction, I would argue that spirituality is a very appropriate topic within the workplace even though religion is not necessarily safe ground.

But how do you find ultimate meaning and purpose in your life? If you work 40+ hours a week at a job, doesn't that job need to enter the equation? In fact, don't you think that the work you do during the bulk of your waking hours should play an extremely prominent role in helping you discover that ultimate meaning and purpose?

The fact of the matter is that understanding the greater value of the work you do gets you one step closer to living an integrated life.

Action Exercise (10 minutes): Think about the work that you do on a daily basis. What value does it create? How does it help others? How does it make the world a better place? If it's a small part of a much larger system, then also think about that larger system. How does it create value, help others, and/or make the world a better place?

Train hard and pray harder,
Brandon Jubar