Elena Verna

Hot take this Labor Day: American Millennials (my generation) are far too obsessed with the concept of a 'work-life balance'... and Boomers and Gen-Xers aren't much better with their obsession of reaching retirement.
 
 In both cases—work is viewed as a BAD THING. Something to be avoided. 
 
 Shelby and I are currently DIYing our first baby's bedroom. He's due in less than 2 months. She and I have maintained a breakneck travel schedule the past year between trade shows and setting up distribution. I just got back from international business travel Thursday—I have 4 more trips in the next 4 weeks—and now I'm painting... and having fun doing it. 
 
 My whole life I've worked hard. By my senior year I was the fastest high school swimmer in the state of Texas. I studied and swam at Princeton. And if that wasn't enough, I started Cheers in my dorm room. 
 
 People always ask: "Where do you find the motivation?" Or: "How do you find the energy to work so hard?" The answer lies in how I view work... I fundamentally view work as a GOOD THING. 
 
 It's not something to be avoided. There is joy in work for its own merit—even if you're not getting paid much—though... that's a nice plus if you can make a good wage doing it! 
 
 I'm a Christian, and in Genesis, the Lord calls humankind to essentially 1) procreate and 2) subdue the Earth—and together that is part of their worship and service to God. The idea is pretty simple... humankind are inherently workers meant to make things better than they found it.
 
 Why I don't like the idea of a 'work-life balance' is that it pretty much only ever strikes one direction. Someone who works a lot has a 'bad' balance and someone who works less has a 'good' balance. Have you ever heard someone say: "I have a bad work-life balance... I work far too little!"? 🤣
 
 I believe working less is the wrong ideal.
 
 I'm not saying all work is fun. Layoffs aren't fun. Shit hitting the fan is not fun. Having to stay up all night fixing someone else's problem isn't fun. 
 
 But what I am saying is that if you can find a way to see work as a blessing in and of itself, you'll really find a lot of joy in your life. All the entrepreneurs I meet with love working. They love the challenge. They love helping people—customers, employees, vendors, etc. 
 
 In the past month I have met two different groups: 1) Shark Tank alumni, and 2) some of the most successful sellers on Amazon. In both groups many of the people there had already made multiple lifetimes worth of money—they had no need to work. So why were they working? Why weren't they retiring? 
 
 Hint... it's not because they want a private plane or yacht... or some other vain thing. It's because they find joy in the work they do. 
 
 This Labor Day try to find joy in work. That may mean a career switch. But it also may just mean taking a different view of the work you do. Even if you work for a greedy corporation you can find ways to make the lives of your co-workers or customers better. And that gives joy!