The big whopper (and 7 other lies you were told about work)

It’s true that when most of us were growing up, we did not even question whether we were going to work when we reached adulthood. It was an unspoken assumption that being an adult meant having a “job” and that the aim of our schooling was to prepare us for said job. It was extremely rare to have been told that work was a choice and that we could create work that was satisfying to our soul. It was also uncommon to have meaningful dialogues about our individual interests and to explore the multitude of ways we could translate our passions into opportunities to make a valuable contribution to our communities. Instead, we talked about the necessity of making sacrifices to earn a paycheque, rationalizing the compromise of our personal values because it’s “just business”, and conforming to fit ourselves into an outdated system, only to end up years later questioning why we work at all.

Over the years I’ve been supporting people in discovering, creating, and living their inspired work, I have noticed they arrive at my doorstep carrying some common patterns of beliefs, many of which did not serve them very well in their work journey. These beliefs often sent them down “Nowhere Road” to the “Dead End Dunes” of unfulfilling jobs. The ideas were indoctrinated into them at a young age, usually by family, and then reinforced by the education system. The stories became so ingrained into their being that often they are not aware of their own telling of them. Because I am an outsider to their internal narrative, the distortions stand out quite clearly. I also know how detrimental those fallacies are to their well-being. Of all the stories I hear, however, there is one that is the most pernicious of them all.

The big whopper

There is one particular story that is carried by almost every person I have ever worked with, if not all. It manifests in their lives and in their work in different ways, but the story is always the same:

Who you are is not enough.

Whether it was a family member, a teacher, an elder, or a peer, every person can remember a time in their life when they were told something, either directly or implied, often repeatedly, which they then internalized into a belief that they were not enough. The offence may not even have been said out loud, but we all know actions speak louder than words. Sadly, most go on to choose the path of their work based on this lie rather than the truth of who they are.

The truth is you are enough. You always have been. You are also already everything you need to live your inspired work. You were born whole and complete with a unique set of strengths, gifts, and talents. You were born as a creator with an undeniable capacity to direct your energy toward realizing your heart’s desires. Your lived experiences serve to add wisdom and compassion to the mix.

7 other lies you were told about work

The “big whopper” is not the only lie we are told, even if it is the most noxious one. We are fed other stories about work that also do us a disservice. For the most part, the people who tell these stories intend no harm. They are simply operating from a limited vantage point because they’ve not yet questioned the stories that were told to them. However, for us to adopt these beliefs without examination can cause us tremendous harm, especially in the amount of life we lose to unnecessary suffering.

1. You need to prove your worth.

Work can seem to be a constant battle in proving ourselves. Whether we are trying to impress a boss so they will deem us worthy of a promotion, or trying to gain the attention of potential customers so they will deem us worthy of their business, there is an emphasis on the state that we are “not yet worthy”. Unfortunately, in most cases, the person we are actually trying to convince is ourselves. We approach work as an attempt to overcome our perceived lack that came with the story that we are “not enough”. However, this is a misguided use of our efforts because work is meant to be a vehicle to express the worthiness that we already are.

You were born worthy, there’s nothing to prove. That’s the truth.

2. Struggle is a part of work.

Many people struggle in their work (goodness knows I’ve been there), but that’s not because it is an inherent part of the experience. Work is meant to be a joyous unfolding of realizing new potentials. When struggle is present, it is an indicator that we are operating out of alignment and that we have cut ourselves off from our source of energy. Rather than continuing to grind it out through action, we want to move ourselves back into alignment so the inspiration can return to flow. Any struggle is actually a blessing as it points us back into alignment with our truth.

Struggle is an indicator of misalignment, rather than a function of work.

3. Work is the source of money.

We need money, ergo we need to work. This belief is so conditioned in us that it’s difficult to see otherwise. I’m not suggesting we don’t need money, currently we still use it as the primary form of economic exchange in our society (though I predict this is going to change in the near future). What I am suggesting is that work itself is not the source of money – we are. More specifically, our energy is the source of our money. Work is about creating channels for our energy to flow – to us and through us – some of which flows in the form of money. Mind you, money is not the only form of energy we receive, there are many forms of abundance that flow to us as a result of work. In the end, work isn’t the only way to open channels for energy to flow, the possibilities are endless.

Work is a channel through which you receive energy in the form of money, and it most certainly need not be the only channel.

4. Without education, you have nothing of value to offer.

Even our education systems have been built around the premise that who we are is not enough – that without acquiring prescribed knowledge or skills, we are of no value to the world-at-large. This falsity leads people to endless job-hopping trying to find a sense of belonging, or accumulating useless credentials as a representation of their value, or seeking validation from others, many of whom they don’t even respect. However, your accomplishments are not what provide your value to society, it is your being that matters. Your existence is your contribution.

Your lived experience adds value to the collective without your having to do a thing.

5. You have to figure out your work by the time you are in your 20s.

If this were true, it would be the most boring life I could imagine. The goal is not to find one expression of work and then do that for the rest of our lives. We are evolutionary beings and our work is meant to grow with us. Our work supports us in becoming more of who we are and, in turn, we grow our work so that it may support our new state of being. Work is an ongoing, emergent process of creation. It will be refreshingly new at 20, 30 – even 70!

Work is a fun, never-ending process of evolutionary growth.

6. A 40-hour workweek is necessary to make a living.

The construct of the 40-hour workweek came into being post-industrial revolution. Factory workers, who were often working 80+ hours a week fought for better working conditions and over the decades, the 40-hour workweek became law in many societies. However, due to continued modernization and expansion of our consciousness, the paradigm of work has evolved dramatically over the last century, yet this antiquated convention still prevails in our work culture. As we implement newer and newer technologies, we will be able to leverage our capacities until eventually, the notion that work is an exchange of time for money will also become a relic of the past.

Advancing technology allows us to leverage our time and exponentially expand our income potential.

7. You have to work.

If one was to believe all the lies from above, then we would also likely believe that we must work for our survival. However, you are free to choose not to work if you don’t want to. Though, there are likely other choices you will also have to make to support you in that. However, the entire point of discovering, creating, and living your inspired work is that you will want to work. There are a multitude of reasons why we would choose to work, the most important being because it is an integral part of living the life your heart truly desires – your inspired life.

Work is a choice.

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The journey of inspired work invites us to question our beliefs and liberate ourselves from any stories of limitation. This requires intentional, ongoing practice as most of us were born into these “lies” and their weight carries a lot of gravity that we have to break free from. However, this process of aligning ourselves with our truth is one of the many satisfying activities in our work. It is yet another way that we make our contribution to the expansion of all that is and serves in moving ourselves – and humanity – forward. To live a more truthful story of work is the one we want to pass onto future generations.