Lately, I have been reminded of my approach to work and beliefs about work.

Work seemed to only be about work and the ability to execute that work. Neither learning nor fun were an essential element of what I saw. It didn’t matter, though, because I would consider how purpose contributes to work. Doing interesting work was aligned with the idea of fulfilling a chosen purpose, and thus with satisfaction.

What I hadn’t considered was the side effect of such a perception. My existing perception meant that I wouldn’t easily think of things that are fun and enable learning as work. A whole branch of activity hadn’t entered my definition of work, and that despite people being paid for it.

Naturally, there still is an important rule: no work will only provide fun and only be about learning. However, to different degrees, fun and learning can become part of my definition of work.