In a meeting, a colleague showed himself astonished, almost excusing himself that he was earning money with his work. It seemed to him that the fun he was having while working was not compatible with receiving money.

Discussing with a professional golfer, the story came up differently. He shared how he is having fun practicing, working on his game, and playing golf. However, being at the beginning of his career, he is confronted with family members who cannot perceive his work as such.

What is work?

It’s not having a job in a company. Work goes beyond being paid by someone for what you do. That part of the work focuses on a single aspect of work. The one connected to doing something because someone wants you to do it, and is willing to pay you in one way or another for it.

It’s not a painful experience that requires a lot of effort either. Work may require doing something that pushes you out of your comfort zone, but that doesn’t make it work.

It’s not a fun experience that you constantly look forward to, either. Work may provide fun moments that bring you back into your comfort zone, but that doesn’t make it work.

The experience of work as fun or effort is also only one aspect of work.

Being active and focusing on one’s tasks is an important aspect of work; it highlights everything that is related to our doing, but that doesn’t make it work.

Being present and attentive to whatever is happening may not seem to be related to work, but it is one aspect of it. But that doesn’t make it work.

The experience of work as the ability to be present and attentive to it, or to be active and contributive to the result, is another aspect of work.

Bringing the above into a whole is a way of expanding one’s lens on what work is. But there is more to it, something that may be way simpler.

What is work for you?