Work to Live or Live to Work?

Over the years, I have often heard the phrase, "Do you work to live, or do you live to work?"  Thankfully, that question is not a difficult one for me to answer.  I never want to find myself in the "work to live" category.  Obviously, that makes me a minority according to the graphs shown above.  They show two different age categories: 25-34 year olds and 55 & older.  Notice there is only a 12% difference between the two!  Does that surprise you at all?   I'm actually hoping that the 35-54 year old bracket (mine, that isn't shown) has a different outlook, but I highly doubt it.   

You have to understand, I love what I do!  I love my job.  I love the people I work with, and I love the fact that everyday is a new adventure.  The day that I feel like I have to show up to work, is the day that I would need to rethink why I am still working where I am.  I don't just show up at my office to get a paycheck.  I work where I do because I learn each and every day from my peers, and my clients.  

Ken Lockard, our chairman, always says that, "we should never, ever, ever stop learning."  I strongly believe that if we only work to live, then our minds become clouded, and we aren't able to achieve our greatest potential.  How many of us know that one guy, or people for that matter, that constantly complain about their jobs, the people they work with, their paychecks, and so on and so forth.  Sometimes I just want to grab 'em and shake 'em and say, "WAKE UP, there is so much more out there for you!  You have so much more potential!"       

If you're waking up in the morning and just working to live, then you probably need to ask yourself, what can I do to change?  Listen, we all spend countless hours in our jobs every day, and it is so much better when you enjoy what you do rather than just coasting along in a funk.  Believe me, I've been in those jobs prior to going to work at Lockard 11 years ago.  You know what I'm talking about; the jobs where you can barely drag yourself out of bed in the morning to get up and go to work.  It is a terrible feeling.

Don't misunderstand me, if we overdo it with the whole "living to work" thing, it can consume us if we let it.  Trust me, this is a huge fault of mine.  I love what I do so much that work starts to take over and take a higher priority than other things in my life.  I need to constantly put God, family, work in the proper order.     

I am just so thankful that I have a great place to work, have the best team to work with, and have a great family that supports me day in and day out.  All of them combined make me a better person each and every day. 

Until next time...