(What Are We Really Doing With Our Lives?)
“The worst days of those who love their work are better than the best days of those who don’t.” — E. James Rohn
60 Years of Work — And What They Taught Me
In half a year, I’ll celebrate 60 years since I started earning a paycheck. My first job, at sixteen, was on an archaeological dig near Carei, where we uncovered a Celtic necropolis — detective work with shovels. It was fascinating, but I preferred the living. For the next seven summers, I worked as a tour guide before embarking on a lifelong career in banking.
Some might ask, “What’s there to celebrate after 60 years of work?”
My answer is simple: work is a privilege. It shapes who we are. And after six decades, I’ve come to see how the difference between a job, career, or calling shapes not only what we do — but who we become.
Why We Work (Even If We Don’t Love It)
I believe there’s an instinct to work — a drive to create, connect, and improve. Work gives us purpose, structure, and identity.
Yet, not everyone feels that way.
According to a 2025 Gallup survey, nearly 80% of people globally are disengaged from their jobs. That gap — between what we do and how we feel — shapes our satisfaction, performance, and sense of meaning. Understanding whether we see our work as a job, career, or calling is the key to closing that gap.
Three Ways We Relate to Work
Dr. Amy Wrzesniewski of Yale and her colleagues discovered that work is not defined by the tasks we perform, but by the meaning we assign to them. They identified three broad orientations:
1. A Job
A job is something we do for money or benefits. It supports the rest of life but rarely defines it. People in this category often feel detached and view retirement as the ultimate reward.
2. A Career
From the Latin “carraria” (road or path), a career is a route to advancement and recognition. Career-minded people seek growth, status, and legacy. They invest in development and see progress as proof of success.
3. A Calling (or Vocation)
From the Latin “vocare” (to call), a calling is work that feels purposeful and intrinsically valuable. People who experience work as a calling see it as part of who they are. Their motivation is alignment, not reward; contribution, not compensation.
Job, Career, or Calling — How They Connect and Why It Matters
Ideally, a job fits into a career, and a career reflects a calling. But that harmony is rare.
You don’t have to love your job.
But if you don’t love your career, you may be on the wrong path.
Jobs come and go; careers require investment. A calling, once found, remains — even if titles or employers change. Jobs and careers depend on external conditions. A calling is internal — your compass that stays true through change.
How We See Our Work Shapes Our Life
Lesson 1: Meaning Matters More Than Status
Wrzesniewski found that people who view their work as a calling report higher satisfaction and performance — regardless of pay or title. Meaning, not status, drives fulfillment.
As leaders, we often underestimate how much meaning motivates. People don’t want to be managed; they want to matter. Our job is to connect daily work to a shared purpose.
Lesson 2: Reframe Your Role — Job Crafting in Action
Wrzesniewski and Jane Dutton coined the term job crafting — small, intentional changes that make work more meaningful.
- Task crafting: changing what you do or how you do it.
- Relational crafting: changing who you interact with.
- Cognitive crafting: changing how you see your work.
The message: don’t wait for your organization to give you meaning — create it.
Lesson 3: The Dual Growth Mindset
Later research by Wrzesniewski showed that transformation requires shifting both how we see our job and how we see ourselves.
We can switch roles without growing as people — and end up repeating old frustrations. Or we can grow personally without changing context — and feel trapped.
Real change happens when both evolve together.
The key question isn’t only “What job fits me?” but “What version of me does this work call forth?”
Lesson 4: Guard the Calling Against Burnout
There’s a shadow side to meaningful work. When we tie identity too tightly to our job, failure feels existential. The more we care, the more we risk burnout.
Wrzesniewski warns that those who “live their work as their life’s purpose” are especially vulnerable — not because they care too little, but because they care too much.
As leaders, we must remind ourselves and others that worth extends beyond role. Rest is not retreat — it’s renewal.
Lesson 5: Meaning Is Made, Not Found
Perhaps Wrzesniewski’s deepest insight is that meaning is constructed, not discovered.
Two people can do the same work and experience it entirely differently. Meaning resides in interpretation, not circumstance. (Remember the parable of the two bricklayers in Play 02.)
We don’t need to wait for the perfect boss or job. We can start where we are — by reframing, reconnecting, and retelling the story of what we do and why it matters.
Leadership in Practice
Throughout my own career, I’ve seen the difference between teams that merely perform and teams that believe.
In times of crisis — financial, institutional, or personal — what sustains people is not instruction but inspiration.
Leaders cannot install meaning in others, but we can create the conditions for it: clarity of purpose, autonomy, and respect. When we do, engagement, creativity, and resilience follow naturally.
Understanding the distinction between a job, career, or calling helps us build workplaces where people thrive — not just survive.
Questions for Reflection
- What do you have right now — a job, a career, or a calling?
- If you’ve found your calling, how did you get there?
- If not, what would it take to move toward work that reflects who you are?
- What advice would you give others about the risks and rewards of staying in a job, building a career, or living your calling?
📄 Download The Chairman’s Playbook Worksheet — Play 11: Job, Career, or Calling?
📚 Further Reading
1. Adam Grant – Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know
Encourages rethinking your career assumptions and staying curious — vital for those transitioning from job to calling.
2. James Hollis – Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life
Examines how midlife transitions often awaken the search for deeper purpose.
3. Roman Krznaric – How to Find Fulfilling Work
A concise, philosophical guide to aligning values, talents, and purpose in modern careers.
4.William Damon – The Path to Purpose: Helping Our Children Find Their Calling in Life
Explains how people form a sense of calling and how mentors can nurture it.
5. David Brooks – The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life
Explores the journey from success to significance — from climbing the first mountain (career) to the second (calling).
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